Tripped Up
by americansnob
Summary: Kate tries to deal with her feelings as a murderer is on the loose season 4
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first fan fiction so I hope its good enough.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or any of the characters.**

**Chapter 1 / Therapy **

It was towards the end of a long day at the precinct and Kate had to cut it short for therapy. Therapy was always the hardest part of the week for her. These sessions weren't set in stone but she started making an even bigger effort to go because she really wanted to get better. Being there always felt like deja vu. Like she should have been healed years ago. Even though it was hard for her to talk about her emotions and past, it was getting harder to keep it bottled up. She needed to work through her moms murder, the gun shot, and her crappy relationships. She really wanted to have that ideal relationship with Castle. She didn't want to screw up this relationship like she screwed up all her other relationships. Trust was always an issue for her. People always tend to leave her when she needed them most and in response she has learned to leave people before she could need them and before they could leave her. Castle had once accused her of having one foot in and one foot out of the door. She knew deep down that he was right but she still hated to admit it. Damn him. They had already covered most of her moms murder, how she felt then and how she always feels like she is letting her mom down by letting the case remain cold. She knew her moms murder would always be the constant issue and the underlying factor to most of her issues.

"How was your relationship with your dad when your mom died?"

She sat there staring at her patient therapist as many thoughts flooded through her minded. What does this have to do with anything? She took a deep breathe. Where does she begin? How to express herself... Her dad? ugh.

"My dad? Well, we were never really on the same page growing up especially when I was a teenager. I was like a wild child. I just wanted to have fun. My dad blew a fit when I started dating and bought the Harley, but my mom was always able to calm him down. When she died." She looked down at her hands, started playing with her watch and then looked towards the window taking in the blurry cars driving by. She felt the tears well up in the corner of her eyes. She choked them back, rolled her eyes, forced herself back to the therapist and continued, "My dad didn't take her death well. He wouldn't look at me, I think I reminded him too much of my mom and... He started drinking. He would get so drunk that he even stopped going to work. After school I would find him just sitting in front of the television. Sometimes he wasn't even watching the T.V, instead I would find him staring into space or just passed out. I needed his attention or someone to talk to. I know that now but then I was just falling to pieces. I started dating this guy who was a junior in college and when I brought him home my dad made a big commotion over it. That is when I knew that this was the only way to get my dads attention. Even if it was him yelling at me. I liked feeling his anger towards me because at least he was talking to me. I knew what annoyed him and started doing more outlandish things, but the more things I did the less he started to care, the more he drank, and I found myself crying myself to sleep more often. Some nights I didn't want to go home so I would sleep over at a friends house. My dad didn't even realize." she sad sadly.

He could tell that this still stung her. Yes, she was upset with her mothers murder, but the pain in her voice showed that she was even more upset with how hard her dad took it and how far it went. She has learned to bottle up her feelings because she never felt that anyone wanted to listen to her problems and she never had anyone she could really speak to.

With a little bit of disgust she said, "at that moment in my life I learned that no one will ever be there for ME, not my dad, not my mom(she's gone), not even my friends. They all had their our own shit to deal with. They were just there for the light problems like college boyfriends and for the fun. "Shit, did she just say all of this out loud? How does he get her to talk so much? He was very silent just giving her the stare down. She needed to fill that silence! She rubbed her eyes in frustration oh, those days were so bad!

**"**When college was about to start I realized that my dad can't be living like this, I can't live like this. We had a long painful talk and we both came to the realization that my mom would not like what has become of us,**"** She placed a bittersweet smile on her face and continued. **"** We both picked up our acts. I stopped doing whatever the hell I wanted, whenever I felt like it and my dad was checked into rehab. I would visit him on the weekends and his moods were definitely not easy to deal with but I knew I had to care for him. We got pretty close over that year and ever since we call each other every week just to touch base.**"**

**"**This week I want you to let someone do something to help you. It doesn't even have to be something big.**"**

**"**Does castle getting me coffee count?**" **she said with a smirk on her face.

A knowing smile appeared on his face and he said, "I want it to be something not work related if possible."

Kate finally got home exhausted from the emotional roller coaster she just went through. She jumped in the shower and let it wash away her dried tears. she could already feel some of the weight being lifted from her shoulders. She grabbed her towel and went to grab a glass of wine. She watched the rich red wine as it filled the cup, but just as she was about to take a sip her cell rang. A groan escaped her lips and she answered her phone "Beckett! K, I' ll be there in 10." Damn, just when she thought she would be able to resign to her bed there has been a murder. She blew her hair dry and grabbed a blue sweater and jeans.

Kate knew that Castle was probably already in bed but she had promised to call him for any murder at any time. Beckett hit the speed dial as she walked to the side of her crown vic. She smiled when Castle's voice came on the line and quickly informed him of the place the body was found. She got in her car and headed for the park.

Just as she pulled up to the park she saw the Javier and Lanie were already there. She was hoping that at this late hour they would be civil towards each other because these past few weeks they were either arguing or hooking up. Kate got out of her car and walked up the path towards them. "What have we got here?" she said looking up at the rocks where the body was laying.

Lanie answered, "It's a white female COD seems to be a blow to the head."

"TOD?"

"Judging by the lividity Im guessing she was killed about two hours ago, but I'll know better when she is on my table"

"Is there an ID?"

"No, there's nothing on her." Esposito cut in.

Kate looked around exasperated. She spun around when she felt Castle come up from behind her and he asked, "Who found her here?" Esposito and Lanie both pointed to a homeless guy that was pacing back and forth muttering to himself.

"You should have seen this guy earlier, He was ranting and raving about how this woman stole his spot." Esposito said.

"Maybe this homeless guy killed this woman over his spot," Castle said with glint in his eye.

Kate smirked at him and asked incredulously, "What? You think this guy killed the woman for a spot?" Castle shrugged his shoulders and a gave look that seem to say, you never know.


	2. Chapter 2

While Esposito went to canvas the area with Ryan, Beckett and Castle took the homeless guy down to the station to see if he will utter more than "That Bitch stole my spot, that has always been mine." She got some more information on this man and was peering through the window before entering the interrogation room. The man was sitting there still muttering to himself. She felt a little sorry for him, but then annoyed that he couldn't pull himself together.

She came out of her thoughts when castle appeared in high spirits with two cups of coffee and he said, "thought you might need this."

She was always thankful when Castle brought her coffee but tonight she really needed it. She thought back to her therapy session and felt a big grin spread across her face. "Oh G-d, yes! Thank you." They both walked into interrogation 1 and Mr. Bush stood up eagerly and kept darting his eyes between Beckett and Castle. "Please have a seat Mr. Bush," She said firmly. When he settled down into his chair Beckett began. "Mr. Bush, Can you tell me what happened tonight?"

He just stared hard at her but finally gave in hesitantly, "Detective, I just found her there. I swear I didn't kill that woman."

"Why were you there?" She thought she knew the answer but she had to ask.

He looked away and zoned out for a second but then bitterly responded, "It's this f-ing economy. I got fired and couldn't find a new job because no one is hiring anyone these days. I lost everything even my apartment. Thankfully I have managed to find this spot in the park. Its been three months. The rocks would keep out the rain and its higher up off the ground so there wasn't any flooding. Now, seeing all that blood, I don't know if I could go back there." Kate watched him shudder from the thought.

"Did you see anything suspicious there? Like anyone running away from the area?"

"No, not really."

"What were you doing before you went to the rocks and found her?"

"I was searching for dinner" he answered looking extremely embarrassed.

Castle couldn't stay quiet any longer and he asked, "Searching?"

The man shifted looking uncomfortable and answered, "I, umm go to the back of some restaurants and sometimes I could find old bread in the garbage".

"Thank you sir, that is all for now, you could go now," Kate quickly replied. She left the room with an appalled castle trailing behind.

Ryan and Esposito had just walked in looking discouraged. "We couldn't find anything. We searched the garbage and no one threw her wallet or cell phone away." There are no prints or murder weapon.

Kate sighed. She glanced at her watch and saw that it read 1:30. "You know what, lets call it a night. There is not much we could do at the moment and when it's light out we'll go over the scene again. Good night everyone." She packed her things up and headed home for her bed.

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><p>Castle headed home to his Loft exhausted as hell. When he got home he headed straight to the kitchen to get a drink of water and noticed the phone blinking from missed calls and voice mails. He picked it up and listened to them: Gina wanted to discuss a book tour call back as soon as possible. He hated doing book tours. They were always such a drag. He was just glad that she was not pressing him for another book yet. He deleted the messages but made no attempt to call her back. He knew that was not going to take care of the problem for ever but it will do for now. The next message was from Alexis and he wondered why she didn't call his cell instead. He automatically reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Oh, damn these batteries they die so fast. With a sigh, he called his daughter back and woke her up from her peaceful sleep. She mumbled something about him waking her up and that she will talk later.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Kate awoke at six the next morning. She always woke up at the same time everyday. It was like her body knew the time. She stretched in bed and turned off the alarm clock that never got the chance to go off. She washed her face and happily got ready for another day at work. Suddenly, the need for caffeine hit her when she walked into the office. Beckett found the office nice and quiet. She was kind of grateful no one showed up yet. She walked into the break room and turned on the coffee machine that Castle graciously bought for the precinct. When the coffee was done brewing she took it to her desk and started writing on the murder board. People slowly started to come in. When Ryan and Esposito walked in she told them to go see if Lanie got a print off the woman so they could get an ID. Castle showed up a few minutes later with two cups of coffee. She took one cup and they both headed for the elevator so they could check out the park. Just as they neared the car she saw Castle ignore a call on his cell phone.

She pulled the car up to the park, got out of the car and with an amused smile on her face she watched an eager Castle get out as well. She never understood the effect Castle had on her, but lately she has been having more fun and definitely smiling a lot more at her job. They walked side by side, up the path, towards the tower of rocks and the yellow police tape. She noticed that there were scattered small dark circles in the sand at the edge of the path. She wouldn't have thought anything of it but something about it bugged her. She bent down a little closer to look at it and realized it must be blood.

Castle was not sure what Beckett was doing at first so he said, "Beckett! Where are you going? The rocks are in the other direction."

"You see these small spots? It is blood." Castle just stood there for a while and watched as Kate examined the ground. She looked so adorably cute with the way she got so serious. Castle was brought out of his thoughts when Beckett asked, "Are you going to help me out?" They both followed the light trail that seemed to stop at times but with each others help and their keen eyes they ended up a few feet in front of a tree. They both looked puzzled at the ground and kept circling around looking for another clue. They probably looked funny, like a dog running in circles trying to catch its tail. There was nothing left to this trail. They had reached a dead end.

"I don't understand," castle said puzzled. "Why is there blood here? Is it the killers or the victims?" He lifted his eyes and suddenly realized a big blood stain on the low tree branch. "What the.."

Beckett looked up and saw the branch at once. "I think we just found the murder weapon."

"Bu..But why isn't there blood on the ground?" he asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Beckett responded. She stood there mesmerized by the branch.

"I am going to have to call this in and take this branch in for evidence. I think that is hair in the wood. It might just be the victims, but we could hope."

They both trudged towards the tower of rocks and started climbing towards the top. She could hear castle panting. She couldn't help herself and with a smirk on her face she asked, "Tired already? Am I going to have to send you to the gym? That way you will get a good workout."

"I know another way to get a good workout." Castle said and raised his eye brow at Kate.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Shut up and focus Castle." She turned around and forced away the smile that threatened to spread across her face. He always had a way of getting to her. She wanted to let her mind wander to what if. At this moment she had to focus, she will leave the wandering to her dreams.

She looked around the rocks and everything seemed the same as last night. There wasn't anything else she could get from this crime scene.

* * *

><p>When they got back to the precinct she knew that it would just be a waiting game if they did not get an ID. They needed something to go on so they could interrogate her friends, family, or anyone else in her life. She looked for Ryan and Esposito as soon as they got off the elevator.<p>

Ryan caught sight of Beckett first and said, "Beckett, Lanie gave us a print and we started the search through the data base to find this woman's Id. Lanie said that she found something interesting on the body so whenever you have the chance you should go see her."

"Thanks Ryan. Guys I want you to look through all of the missing person reports and see if anyone tried to report her."

Castle followed Kate to the morgue. She could feel the cooler air as soon as she entered the room. "So Lanie, what is this interesting thing you wanted to show me?

"We will get to that soon girl, but first lets go over body. The TOD was last night between 9 and 10. The COD, like I told you before was a blow to the head. "

"Let me guess was it a wooden branch?" Castle asked. Beckett shot him a look that said what the hell are you doing? Do you want her to take your head off?

Lanie narrowed her eyes but continued speaking as if Castle hadn't spoke. "I found a few splinters in her head so it could have been a branch. How did you know?"

"We found a tree branch in the park full of blood. We suspect that it was the murder weapon. It will be sent in soon we need to see if the blood matches." Beckett answered.

Lanie nodded and then said, "I checked the woman to see if she was raped and she wasn't."

"If its not rape and we couldn't find her wallet or cellphone, you think its just a robbery gone wrong?" Castle blurted out. He could see a hurtful look cross over Beckett's face. But it disappeared as soon as it appeared. This was one of those times he wished he had bit his tongue. He knew she would think back to her moms case and how the detectives sometimes write off cases as_ robberies gone wrong _when they can't figure a case out.

Lanie continued talking again and shot castle a pointed look. "You would not believe what I found on this woman! I found this in her back." She pulled out a small disk card that was hiding in towels.

Castles eyes got wide and he excitedly exclaimed, "Oh my god! It's the government!"

"Seriously! That is the theory you are going with?" Beckett asked somewhat annoyed. "You always think its the government and you are never right."

"I could always come up with more theories, if you'd like." Castle responded playfully.

"I do not know how you put up with him, next time you could leave him behind," Lanie muttered.

Castle got this hurt look in his eye and Beckett couldn't help but smile to herself. He looked so cute at the moment.

* * *

><p>Beckett knew that they probably wont find an ID for another day or two and the disk went to an IT so she settled on the paperwork. She didn't realize that the paperwork pile got so high. After several hours, she heard castle put away his phone. He must have gotten bored playing the game on his phone and she could feel Castle's eyes focusing on her now. As she did her work she couldn't help taking note of his restless sighs. She used to find it really creepy when he would just stare at her, but now she didn't mind as much. "If you're bored Castle, you could always help me do the paperwork." Kate said playfully.<p>

"No, It is a lot more fun watching you do it."

"You know you don't have to stay here for this if you have something more important to do."

He looked down at his ringing phone and frowned. "I have to get this, I'll be right back." She nodded towards him and watched him disappear into the break room. She could not help but wonder why he was talking to his ex wife, Gina. She knew he wasn't dating her anymore but it made her a little jealous knowing that he was still talking to her. She decided to stay for another hour before she will call it a night. She had to force herself to concentrate as she did her paperwork.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry this took so long to upload. I thought I would get this done sooner but things came up.

* * *

><p>Kate was standing in the graveyard near Captain Montgomery's grave. Everyone was gathered around either standing or sitting in nearby chairs. She knew what was going to happen next. It always went the same way. She wanted to run away but her feet wouldn't move. She saw the glint of light in the distance, heard the loud gun shot, and saw their scared reactions when she was hit. It was his reaction that scared her the most. His eyes, the despair that ran through them and the words he said. Her heart was pounding really fast and she could feel a throbbing pain where her scar was located. She woke up to screaming only realizing after that the screaming had come from her. She laid there for a few minutes until she felt her heart beat slow down. She looked at the time and saw that it was 5:00. There was no way she would be getting anymore sleep and she knew that she would have to get up in an hour anyways. The pounding in her head would not stop. She needed coffee fast. She got up, went to the bathroom, washed her face with cold water and then went to the kitchen to turn the coffee pot on. She sat on a chair thinking until the coffee finally boiled.<p>

Due to the early wake up, Kate arrived extremely early to the precinct. She took off her coat and made herself comfortable by her desk. She saw her phone was blinking red because of a missed call and a voice mail. She listened to a short message the IT guy, Mr. Seaplus, left. It basically said that they have a little information from the disk and that if she wanted she could come by as early as 6:30. Kate quickly checked the time and saw that it was a quarter to seven. Happy by this she quickly grabbed her coat from her chair.

She walked in the room and found it filled with tons of computers and very little people. She walked to the main desk, flashed her badge and asked where she could find Mr. Seaplus. They pointed her towards the right and she found a guy concentrating hard on the screen before him. She walked up behind him and glanced at the screen for a second. "Going on vacation?"

Mr. Seaplus swiveled his chair around to see who was behind him. With a surprised look on his face he said, "and you are?"

"Detective Kate Beckett, sorry about that I" she looked around a little embarrassed.

"Don't worry, This is actually what was on the disk you gave us."

"All it has are flight schedules? Are you sure that is it?"

"Yeah, it has schedules and they are all from all different airports. "Seeing the disappointment on her face he said, "But we will look to see if there is something more to it. Maybe it is code or there will be a pattern."

"Thanks for your help and call me if there is anything else." Kate said nodding.

When Beckett got back to the precinct she found Esposito and Ryan staring at the computer before them. She was about to yell at them and tell them to do something productive, but first decided to go over and see what they were doing there. She saw the program running through the data base of different people. "Still nothing?" and just as she said that the screen started blinking and the woman's face came on the screen. They all leaned forward to look more closely at the screen.

* * *

><p>Castle woke up later then he wanted. He went to sleep with way too many drinks the night before. He had spent the night sulking about how lonely he will be when Alexis goes to college. He knew Alexis would be going to college but he did not realize how hard it will be. For her two weeks of vacation Alexis decided to go traveling with Martha. They were looking into the different colleges and seeing which one she would like best. He wanted to get to the precinct already because he did not enjoy being alone in his loft. He rushed through breakfast and in all of his excitement to get to the precinct, Castle forgot to pick up coffees. He walked into the precinct and found Beckett's mouth opened in surprise and the other two detectives staring intently at the screen before them. "What are you looking at? Porn?" Castle asked, hoping to get a laugh from them?<p>

Ryan and Esposito popped their heads up excitedly but before they could respond Beckett replied, "No, just a 25 year old flight attendant."

"A 25 year old flight attendant is still hot and sexy. If you want Beckett, I know a place..."

"Castle!" Beckett said with a glare in her eye, "It is the woman who was murdered in the park."

"Ryan lets check her information and find out why no one has reported her missing." Esposito said to his partner.

Castle could see that Beckett was on edge this morning but he still would rather be here then in his empty, cold loft. The only thing he regretted was forgetting to bring her, her coffee. He didn't want to spend another second with her in a cranky mood. He walked towards the break room to get a coffee but stopped mid way when Beckett asked sharply, " We have people to interview, are you coming?"

"Yeah, but can we stop stop for coffee on the way there?" Beckett looked at her watch and made a face "Come on it will only take a few extra minutes."

She knew it wouldn't take long but she really wanted to get a move on this case and she loved seeing him squirm. "Ok, but make it quick." she took big strides to the elevator and smiled when Castle ran to catch up to her.

The car ride was silent. Beckett was lost in her own thoughts and Castle was scared to talk because he didn't want her to yell at him. She stopped the car at the nearest Dunkin' Donut, parked the car, and waited for Castle to get his coffee. A few minutes later he came back carrying two coffees and a white bag. He handed her a cup and she took it with a smile on her face. Beckett thanked him and started the car.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw him open up the bag and take out a strawberry cheese danish. The smell made her realize how hungry she was and she was eager to hide it. She felt her stomach rumble so she took a sip of her coffee to try to soothe the hunger. With all the traffic and her hunger, she felt herself growing irritated towards castle. She didn't expect him to buy her a coffee, but he did. She didn't expect him to buy her a danish but she wished he had.

She came to a red light and she was very tempted to turn her lights on but decided to use that moment to take another sip of coffee. Just as she was about to take a sip Castle shoved a danish to her lips and said, "Taste this, it is amazing!" She gave him a bewildered look and wanted to push his hand away but he kept insisting on her to try it. She felt her empty stomach rumble again and gave in to him. She looked down at the danish, took a bite and looked into his beautiful blue eyes. She saw Castle shift in his seat and his hand fell slightly. she used that moment to break eye contact and caught sight of the light turning green. Castle cleared his throat and asked "Was it as good as I said it would be?"

She nodded and said "Thanks, Its perfect"

"Good, now finish it before we get there."

* * *

><p>They pulled up to the airport and went to find Mr. Flyer.<p>

He met them at the doors and hustled them inside. They shook Mr. Flyer's hand and then he brought them into an office.


	5. Chapter 5

Mr. Flyer was the one who was supposed to send Ms. Azoulay, the dead flight attendant, her flying schedule every month. He took out the last schedule he had sent her and told them who was working on the last flight she was on. He explained how he just sent the schedules to everyone but he never met her before.

He knew her information from the forms she had filled out to get the job and an update on how to contact her but other then that there wasn't much on her. They both looked at the papers filled with her information. They learned that her parents were from France, that Ms. Azoulay was living out of hotels for the last 10 months, and finally the current hotel she was staying by. Ms. Azoulay schedule was free until tomorrow and then she was supposed to fly to California. This helped explain why no one reported her missing. She didn't have to be anywhere and she didn't have any parents to deal with in New York. She called Ryan and Esposito and told them to go to the hotel room of Ms. Azoulay.

Beckett asked Mr. Flyer for the schedules of the three flight attendants, the pilot and the co-pilot on the plane. He gladly gave over the information and Beckett glanced at the papers. She realized that one of these people are soon going to fly away if they don't hurry to terminal B. With Mr. Flyer's help they were both able to pass the securities without any problems. Before sprinting towards Terminal B, She turned to Mr. Flyer and thanked him for his cooperation.

A plane must have landed a few minutes before because suddenly a swarm of people appeared. They both had to run against the crowd and dodge people that managed to show up out of nowhere. Frustrated with this situation Beckett pulled out her badge and yelled "Police! Police! Everyone move." Most of the people moved out of the way. There were those few idiots they had to dodge, but at least it wasn't a swarm of people. Kate ran her heart out and looked towards her destination with Castle at her heels. When they arrived she had to take a moment to catch her breath. She ran her fingers over her scar hoping that, that will make the aching pain go away.

"Are you okay?" Castle asked. She looked up and saw the concerned look in his eyes.

She automatically dropped her hands, looked away, and said, "yeah, just catching my breath." The look of concern never left his eyes but she disregarded it and hurried towards the flight attendant that was just about to board the plane. "Excuse me sir, Are you Mr. Rodgers?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, can I help you?"

"Yes, my name is Detective Kate Beckett and this is my partner," she said pointing to Castle. "We have a few questions to ask you regarding Ms. Azoulay. Do you mind coming with us?"

"Is she alright?"concern swept across his face as he looked from Beckett to Castle and when an announcement went off he said, "I can't I have a flight to be on and its about to leave." He saw Beckett reach for her cuffs and said quickly, "But it doesn't really look like I have a choice." Mr. Rodgers reluctantly followed Beckett to her car.

* * *

><p>They put Mr. Rodgers into an empty interrogation room and then stepped out to put their coats away. They were about to go back into the interrogation room but Ryan and Esposito intercepted them with a drunk woman staggering between them.<p>

"This is Mrs. Pryer. She was a flight attendant on the same flight as Ms. Azoulay and she was found in Ms. Azoulay's room. She claims that Ms. Azoulay told her they could share the hotel room."Ryan said.

"All we found in the room was a suitcase filled with more shoes then clothes." Esposito exclaimed in disbelief, "We didn't find her wallet with an ID or a cell phone."

"Your cute, do you have a girlfriend?" Mrs. Pryer said while placing her hand on his face. Esposito cringed back from the bad breath and her hand. Ryan tried to hold back the smile that threatened to appear on his face. Esposito took her hand off his face and placed her in the next interrogation room.

Castle and Beckett looked at each other and burst out laughing. Esposito reappeared as castle said in between laughs, "Wait till Lanie hears about this." He quickly stopped laughing when he saw the anger and the murderous look that appeared in Esposito's eyes and face.

"Don't kill me" Castle said in a small voice.

Beckett stood there with a goofy smile on her face. she loved how they could mess so easily with each other and she would never get tired of this. She watched the frightened look Castle had on his face and she watched the color drain from his face. "Don't worry Castle, I'll protect you." she whispered with a smile that made her eyes sparkle.

He looked at her surprised but recovered quickly. As they both headed into the interrogation room that held Mr. Rodgers he said, "You better, or you will have more paperwork to do and you will have to make another arrest."

" What happened to Ms. Azoulay?" Mr. Rodgers asked looking around nervously.

"She was found murdered in the park two nights ago. Umm, What was your relationship with Ms. Azoulay?" Beckett asked watching his expression fall when he heard the bad news.

"We are.. were just good friends. We would see each other a lot and we flew together numerous times. Sometimes we would hang out and if she needed someone to talk to, I would be there, but that was it." Mr. Rodgers said as he looked off into space.

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"We flew in to New York together two days ago, but she told me she needed to meet someone, so after the flight we went our separate ways." He paused for a second to look at his hands, looked back up and said, "That was the last, the last time."

"Do you know who she went to meet? Kate asked hopefully.

"No, she didn't say, but I know that she recently started talking to her ex-husband. I heard her call him, from her cell, after we landed."

"Ex? She was married? She had a cell phone?" Castle asked surprised. He looked at Beckett and saw that she did not know this piece of information either.

"Yeah to both questions, they got divorced like 18 months ago because Ms. Azoulay was not the most faithful person out there. If I remember correctly Mr. Turner lives somewhere in New York."

"Do you know if she was seeing anyone else?"

Mr. Rodgers got a weird look on his face when he said, " She was with a different guy every month. The sleeping spaces are tight on the airplanes. Sometimes when we travel and we don't want to spend money for a hotel room, we would go to a bar instead. You will never believe how many people we slept with just to get a roof over our heads, for a night."

" I just have one more question that I have to ask you. Where were you two nights ago, the night of Ms. Azoulay's murder, between 9- 10"

"The day we arrived? We.. Some of us went to the bar on 2nd. I was there until midnight.

"When you say We, your referring to?"

"Ms. Pryer, a flight attendant from the plane. We have hotel rooms. We were just there to let off some steam."

"Thank you, you can leave now but don't leave town until this investigation is over." Mr. Rodgers shook his head and left.

We have to find her ex- husband and see if he made any contact with her and we have to see if Mr. Rodgers alibi checks out.

Beckett sat down at her desk and searched for information on Mr. Turner. Castle sat down in his chair and fiddled with his phone. Ryan and Esposito interrogated Ms. Pryer but they didn't get much information from her.

She just met Ms. Azoulay on the plane. Ms. Azoulay is the type of woman who becomes friends with everyone. She was always nice and friendly towards everyone. Ms. Pryer originally didn't have a place to sleep but Ms. Azoulay offered to share her hotel room. Mr. Rodgers and Ms. Pryer both alibied each other out and the bar tender confirmed it too.

Mr. Webb, the pilot, was supposed to come by in an hour and they were still trying to get through to the co-pilot. Beckett started to fill up the murder board and she added Mr. Turners name to the list of potential suspects.

* * *

><p>If you see any mistakes feel free to tell me :)<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Castle enjoyed watching Beckett as she wrote on the murder board. He couldn't help but stare at her rocking hot body and amazing ass. She was so damn beautiful and the sad thing was she probably does not realize it. He took a few steps towards her to look at what she was writing and the scent of her cherry shampoo wafted through the air. He loved the way she smelled and he slowly exhaled onto her neck. For a second he could have sworn that she leaned back towards him but before they could dwell on that moment his phone started ringing. He knew from the ring tone who was on the line. He quickly pulled out his phone and answered it.

As soon as Castle answered the phone Gina spoke the whole time and Castle couldn't get more then three words into the conversation. Gina had called to remind him to be at the book signing he promised to go to. She reminded him of the time and warned him to show up on time. After he hung up he turned to Beckett and with a sly grin he asked, " Do you want to come to a book signing with me? Before you say no, hear me out. There will be an all you can eat buffet there so you wont have to cook dinner for yourself."

" Castle, I can't. I have a lot of work to do and an interrogation," Beckett said in an annoyed voice.

"Well, if you are able to finish before nine you should come," Castle said glumly.

Castle grudgingly went to the signing and hated that he didn't have an excuse to get out of it. Gina greeted him coldly, but professionally at the door. He knew their break up was left on bad terms but he also knew that she will be nothing less then courteous in public. She knew that he hated going to book signings and he wondered if this book signing was her way of getting back at him. Gina dragged him around and introduced him to people that he will forget about after the night. After an hour of socializing he was placed at a table in front of the room and was asked to read a page from his book.

Beckett finished interrogating the pilot and co-pilot and they didn't have anything new to contribute to the case. They both knew her from different flights they were on, but they didn't know her that well. She checked their stories of the night and they both alibied out. With no leads to go on she sighed in frustration. She wished castle was still here because she really needed one of his theories. She dialed Mr. Turners number one more time but she got an answering machine. She looked at the time and decided to call it a night. It was seven-thirty and she wanted to give castle a visit.

When she walked into the room filled with people she found him at the front of the room. He was in the middle of reading a page from his book and she found his voice so soothing. She could listen to him read all night. He could read a phone book and still captivate his audience. She watched his expressions as he read and the saw the glint in his eye as he read Nikki's name. He glanced up and she saw the excitement in his eyes when he saw her. She met his eyes and felt her face flush when he flashed her one of his amazing smiles. She couldn't help but stare back into his sea blue eyes and think back to earlier that day when he leaned over her and breathed on her neck. She let her eyes wander to his lips and thought about kissing him. She ran her tongue over her lips, bit her bottom lip, and smiled. Some one walking by bumped into her causing her to lose eye contact.

* * *

><p>Castle finished reading the page from his book and closed the book. He was surprised but happy to see that Beckett made it to the signing. He was grateful that she showed up because now he could hide out with her. He couldn't help but stare at her from his table and she did not seem to want to look away either. He loved seeing her when she wore that dazzling smile and he smiled back at her. He got up and tried to fight his way through the crowd. There was a girl trying to get his attention but he was to focused on getting to Kate. There was one girl who placed her arm on his and she was babbling about something. He pushed the girl away and found Beckett at the back.<p>

"Couldn't stay away?" Castle asked coyly.

"You caught me, I just couldn't resist. It would be a crime to pass up an all you can eat buffet," Beckett answered.

Castle smiled and led Beckett to the table filled with food. He grabbed two plates and handed one to Kate. They filled their plates and searched for a place to sit. They sat there for a while laughing and talking about nothing. The conversation came to an end and they sat there just staring at each other.

Beckett broke the silence first and said, " I should get home now. I'll see you tomorrow."

"At least let me bring you home," Castle said.

"No, I'll be fine."

"Please! It will give me an excuse to get out of here," Castle pleaded, as he looked around the room.

Becket shook her head and said, "fine."

They grabbed their coats and stepped outside. It was a really chilly night and Kate tried to pull her coat closer to her chest as breeze blew in her face. They walked in a comfortable silence and castles hand found its way to her back. Kate was about to pull away from his touch, but she took comfort from the heat radiating off of him. The wind swept her hair and neck and she could feel chest growing hard, but at this point she couldn't tell if it was from the breeze or if it was because of Castle.

They got to her building, climbed the steps to her apartment, and stopped at her door. She paused at her door and nervously passed her key from hand to hand. Kate cocked her head to the side and asked, "Do you want to come in for a drink?" she bit her bottom lip scared that maybe she made a mistake and shouldn't invite him inside.

Castle grinned and accepted Kate's offer. She led them into her apartment and they both took off their coats. Kate grabbed two glasses, a bottle of wine and settled on the couch next to Castle. They started talking about the case and tried different theories of why the woman was at the park but they wouldn't know anything until they interrogate Mr. Turner. Kate did not notice how close they got to each other. Their legs were almost touching and their heads were just inches away. It was getting a lot harder for her to breathe and she couldn't get rid of the fluttering feeling building inside of her stomach. She found herself staring at his lips and leaned in a little closer to his face. His soft lips touched hers and she involuntarily parted her lips when his tongue teasingly touched hers. She waited a long time for this moment and still couldn't believe she was here. She put her hands on his head and drew deeper into the kiss. They were forced to draw apart when Castle's phone rang. It was Alexis. She never missed her nightly calls with Castle.

Kate covered her face. She could not believe what just happened and she was relieved that she was saved from maybe making a huge mistake.

* * *

><p>Why is it so freaking cold outside? Just a heads up I'm not going to be able to write over the weekend.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

_ Kate covered her face. She could not believe what just happened and she was relieved that she was saved from maybe making a huge mistake. _

Castle didn't want to leave Beckett's apartment especially after what just happened. He saw her bite down on her bottom lip with nervousness. He watched the lust disappear from her eyes and a cloud of fear or maybe regret replace it. He at first wanted to ignore his phone but Kate insisted that he answer it. He knew if he didn't answer then Alexis would get nervous and call again. The only thing that assured him to answer the phone was Kate's last words, "We'll talk later." Castle caught his breath, hesitantly got up, answered his phone and left her apartment.

He spent an hour talking to Alexis about her trip and was glad to hear that she was having such a good time with Martha even if he wasn't with them. Alexis reminded him that they will both arrive home tomorrow night.

As he lay in bed he reviewed the night he had. They were talking on the couch and sitting close to each other. He could smell her wonderful scent as he moved in closer to her. He stared into her brown hazel eyes and watched them twinkle as they spoke. He noticed how her eyes made their way to his lips and he lowered his eyes to hers. He felt her hot breath near his mouth when she leaned her head a little closer to his. He was not thinking at that moment and he could not help himself as he leaned in to kiss her. He kissed her soft pink lips and midway realized what he was doing. He froze for a second and wondered if Kate would pull away or worse kill him for this. He slid his tongue across her lips and instead of rejecting him, she surprisingly pulled herself into the kiss by sweeping her tongue over his. Her hands made their way to the back of his head and face.

He laid sleepless in bed. He still wasn't sure how Kate will respond to the night. Will she push him away tomorrow? He saw the fear and regret in her eyes but he did not want to let her get away. He couldn't sleep so he decided to send a text to Kate and see if she was up.

Kate sat on the couch until she heard Castle's foot falls fade from the hallway. Even after they were gone she still sat there shocked and unsure of what just took place. She went to bed but the sleep wouldn't come. She was too busy thinking about what she would say to Castle the next day. She knew the talk would come and she knew he wouldn't let her get out of it. At 1:30 She received a text from Castle that read: _ "Are you still up? I can't sleep could I come over?" _She was awake but she didn't want to talk about what happened. No, not yet. She wasn't sure how she felt about him. Kate finally fell asleep a little after two.

* * *

><p>Kate awoke to the obnoxious sound of her alarm clock and a groan escaped her throat. The sun light prevented her from opening her eyes and it took her two attempts to turn off the alarm. It took a hot shower and a coffee until she fully woke up.<p>

Before going to the precinct Kate went to visit her friend Lanie. She entered the room and found Lanie holding someone's Kidney. She was surprised by the sight even though she had seen her friend like this numerous of times. She knew that she would never get used to it.

"Lanie, I came down to see if the blood and hair on the branch were a match to the victim," Beckett said.

Lanie looked at Beckett and asked, "Are you sure that's all you came down here for?"

She always wondered how Lanie knew her so well. Sometimes Kate didn't appreciate how keen Lanie was at picking up on things but this time she did not mind. She watched as Lanie put the kidney down in a tray and stepped away from her work.  
>Kate could not keep the smile away as she said, "I kissed Castle last night in my apartment."<p>

"You and writer boy are shacking up?" Lanie asked loudly in disbelief. "Finally! Girl, but why did you look like hell froze over and now look like your on a cloud?"

Kate shrunk back at Lanie's loud voice and said, "Not so loud!"

She could not believe that Lanie knew exactly what she was feeling at the moment. One part of her was happy that she kissed Castle but the other part was afraid. What if things didn't work out and their friendship would be ruined. Will he stop coming to the precinct? She was being selfish but she needed him at the precinct. He always knew how to make a hard day easier. She knew she was being stupid but she couldn't help feeling scared. Look whose tough now she thought bitterly to herself. That kiss felt so good she wanted more. It wasn't like the kiss they had when they were undercover. This one was way better. It took her months to get over the kiss they had when they were undercover and this one she didn't want to get over.  
>"He has two failed marriages, if those didn't work..." She paused to think "I'm not asking for marriage from him but if we're kissing I want it to be something more. I don't want to be just another girl." She knew she was getting ahead of herself but she didn't know how to stop that train of thought.<p>

"Just go with it. Tell him what you just told me. I know its hard for you to lay your heart out there but trust me that man loves you," Lanie said.

Without thinking Kate answered, "I know." Lanie didn't say anything but she raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. Kate ignored it and asked for the results. Lanie knew when to back off and this was one of those times. Kate will talk about it when she was ready.

* * *

><p>Kate arrived late to the precinct and found Castle waiting eagerly by her desk. She fought that first impulse of retreating back towards the elevator because she knew she couldn't hide from him forever. She wasn't sure if she was ready to face him yet, but she didn't have a choice. Castle spotted her right away. "Beckett!" Castle said happily.<p>

She walked purposefully towards him and he said while holding a cup out for her to take, "It's about time you showed up! Your coffee is getting cold."

She took the cup and said, "Thank you," with a tight smile pasted on her lips.

"Is it true what happened? Did someone really kill Lisa Azoulay?" A muscular built, tall man, about 6 feet, asked with a bewildered look on his face.

Everyone there turned to look at the man. Esposito was standing there and asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm Mr. Turner, a detective Beckett left a message on my work phone and told me she needed to ask me a few questions. I, I saw the newspapers and.. and her face." There were tears forming in the man's eyes. Mr. Turner tried to stop the tears but was unsuccessful.

It always amazed Beckett how such a strong looking man could cry. She took the man's hand and lead him to the interrogation room. They both sat down and she gave the man a little time to collect himself before she would tear him apart. When he was done she began the questioning.

"What was your relationship like with Ms. Azoulay?" Kate asked him.

She heard a sigh escape from his lips before he responded, "When we first got divorced we weren't very civil, but recently she started calling me. So we were just friendly towards each other."

"Why did you get divorced?" Castle asked and Kate shot him a glare that could kill him.

Mr. turner looked at him and said, "Lets just say she wasn't the most faithful person out there. I found her on our bed with one of her co-workers. I think he was a flight attendant, but I didn't really stick around and listen to her explanation. Can you believe it? It only took two months for her to get into bed with another man."

"Don't feel too bad it took my ex-wife a month before I found her with a producer." Castle said but quickly shut his mouth when he saw the look in Beckett's eyes and heard her cold voice call his name. The look she gave him read that if he didn't keep quiet, she will kick him out.

"When was the last time you saw her?" Beckett asked, steering the interrogation back to the case.

"She called me when her plane landed, so the night she flew into NY. About two nights ago we met at the bar on second. We grabbed a few drinks and then we walked together to the park."

"Do you know what time that was?" Kate asked, cautiously not wanting to give anything away.

"Yeah, it must have been around eight. We were supposed to go at seven but something came up at work and I didn't get out until eight."

"What did you do at the park?" Kate asked. She could see the hesitation and couldn't help but wonder what he was hiding. She gave him one of her stares that usually broke suspects.

He nervously cracked his knuckles and said in low and mournful voice, "We kissed. I know it looks bad because I have a girlfriend now. I love her, but being alone with Lisa brought back good memories. The kiss was only for a second and I pushed her away because I thought of my girlfriend. I told Lisa that I couldn't do this anymore and after that we both left."

Beckett smiled because he unknowingly placed himself at the crime scene. She just needed to push him to confess and she knew that wont be as easy. "Are you sure you left after that? Maybe she wouldn't take no for an answer so you pushed her away but this time a little too hard. Did she die instantly when she banged her head on the tree?" Beckett asked a little too harshly.

"Whoa, What? No! When I left her she was still alive! I swear."

His eyes were wide open at her accusation but Beckett had been here before and she knew how good people were at lying. "The police have a warrant for your house and they are going to check to see if any of your clothes or shoes have blood on it. If you are lying we will know, but if you tell us the truth we could ask the DA to lessen your sentence. "Mr. Turner still denied killing Ms. Azoulay but they got him at the crime scene at the right time and that was all they needed."

As soon as they left the room, Castle said, "I don't think Turner did it." she looked at him with a questioning look and with a raised eyebrow. He waived off her look and continued, "Not that he doesn't make sense, but it's too easy and why would he put himself at the crime scene?" she saw him shaking his head and glanced over to see his amused grin. "He's just the obvious suspect for the killing. There's no twist."

"How many times do I have to tell you this isn't one of your books?" she asked in disbelief. "Sometimes people are stupid and they admit to things. You should know that by now." She watched him shake his head and he still looked unconvinced. Kate rolled her eyes and stared at the murder board one last time. There was something nudging at her but she wasn't sure what was wrong.

* * *

><p>I cant wait for Castle to return :) :D :)<p>

Just want to thank Topoftherock for correcting my mistakes :*

The weekend was awesome! I love the bipolar NY winter. It's just great waking up thinking you know what to wear and then going outside and realizing it's too hot for a sweater.


	8. Chapter 8

_"How many times do I have to tell you this isn't one of your books?" she asked in disbelief. "Sometimes people are stupid and they admit to things. You should know that by now." She watched him shake his head and he still looked unconvinced._

Beckett sat at her desk, frustrated that this case was not going anywhere and that they could not pin the crime on Turner. They searched his car and apartment but still came up empty handed.

"What if it is the girlfriend?" Castle piped, bringing Kate out of her thoughts.

"Girlfriend?" Kate asked with a confused look on her face as she and turned away from the murder board.

"Yeah, Turner's girlfriend," castle replied excitedly.

"We already have..." Kate began but was cut off by Castle and his wild imagination.

"But the girlfriend is a better twist. Just picture this. "Kate looked exasperated and rolled her eyes," It is the night before Turner went to the park. His girlfriend, let's call her Blossom, started noticing that Turner was receiving a lot of private calls on his cell. She decides to wait until they settle in bed and then she will complain and question him. But Turner puts his phone on the charger and heads for the shower first. Blossom takes this opportunity to check his phone. She sees the texts he sent to Lisa and sees that they are planning to meet up with each other. She gets angry that he is keeping this a secret, she bottles up her anger as well as she can and decides to follow him to see what he will do with her. The next night she follows Turner to the bar and then to the park. She gets upset at the fact that they are talking easily with each other but when she sees Lisa lean in to kiss Turner, She gets extremely mad. Blossom stands there stunned at first but comes to her senses when Turner pushes Lisa away and heads down the path. Seething with anger Blossom confronts Lisa and in all the excitement she pushes Lisa into the tree killing her."

It took Kate a moment to realize that Castle was finally finished with his story. She was too busy looking into his eyes and thinking about how much she wanted to kiss him again. Kate quickly snapped her gaze back to the white board and said, "As good as that story sounds Castle, there are so many holes in it. "

"Like what?"

"Like, Blossom will have to be really strong to push Lisa into a tree branch so that it would actually kill her. Also How did Blossom move the body to the rocks?"

"Oh, well Blossom is a body builder." Castle said offhandedly. Beckett just rolled her eyes at him but smiled to herself amused at how good and fast he was at making up stories. She knew there was no harm in questioning Turner's girlfriend, but knew that if she did and if Castle was right then he will gloat the whole day.

With a sigh she said, "I am still not ruling Turner out, but lets pick up the girlfriend and see if she knows anything." Castle smiled. He had won this argument.

On the way to pick up Turner's girlfriend, Tracey, Beckett received a phone call from the IT guy saying that they may have figured out a pattern in the flights downloaded onto the disk. He spent most of her car ride going into a lot of details about it. Beckett could barely keep track of what he was saying but her ears picked up at the end of the conversation. He told Beckett that he will send everything to her desk so that she will be able to see everything for herself.

Kate could feel Castle's eyes on her and she knew he was probably dying to ask her what she felt about last night, but she still did not want to talk about it. She knew he was not going to let her avoid the subject forever and was thankful that they arrived at their destination before he was able to bring up the topic.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"Tracey, did you know Lisa Azoulay?"

"No, but I feel like I know her," Tracey said with disgust but did not elaborate, "Why are you asking me?"

"She was found murdered two nights ago, and that brings us to the next question. Where were you that night?"

"I know this is going to sound bad," Tracey started out nervously, but anger seeped into her voice as she continued. "I was in the park that night because that son of a b–"

"AHAA! So you admit being there," Castle blurted out. He quickly bit his tongue for the second time that day when he saw Beckett's expression.

Tracey rolled her eyes and replied, "I just told you that. He was being so sneaky that night, so I followed him but that is all. When he walked away from Lisa, I went home but you should talk to the guy who was walking by the park at the same time."

"You saw a guy there and you only thought to tell us about him now?" Beckett asked.

"I did not think of it"

"Would you be able to ID him?"

"I do not know it was pretty dark, but I could try."

Beckett turned to Castle as they left the room and she said with a smirk, "so you still think it is her?"

"Who? Blossom?" Castle asked just to see Beckett's reaction. "No, I just hope we get a valid ID from the sketch artist and that this mystery man will be more helpful."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Beckett sat at her desk looking at the disk and notes that the IT guy left for her and Castle sat in his chair looking at his phone. These flights do not match up to any of flights on Lisa's schedule. She noticed that whenever there was a flight from California to New York, there was a schedule for the FTowns Hotel underneath it. The weird thing about it,on record, Lisa had reservations for a different hotel. What is going on here? Beckett thought as her brows knit in confusion.

"Kate, can we talk?" Castle asked in a low voice.

She looked up surprised from being brought out of her thoughts but quickly recovered and answered firmly, "I know I promised that we will talk but I can't do it now. There is just so much work that I still have to do here. What about tonight?" She really hoped that he would understand that what she really wanted was not to have this conversation in front of everyone to hear. She did not need everyone knowing about her personal life and right now she really wanted to keep him for herself.

"Alexis and Martha are coming home tonight." Castle said, "Would you want to join us for dinner?"

"I would love to," Beckett said as a wide smile spread across her face.

* * *

><p>How was the Castle episode last night? I loved it! So glad that it is finally on again.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

Castle had left the precinct to get ready for Martha and Alexis to return home. Kate was still at the precinct hoping that the sketch artist would get back to her about the mystery man in the park. She was warned that the artist was busy with an important robbery case. Because she asked for one towards the end of the day, they told her not to expect anything until the next day. She stared blankly at the murder board and hoped that something would click soon.

There were so many people involved in this case and they were all near the victim around the time she was murdered. Yet they all claimed not to see her murderer. There was something missing here and she hated not knowing what it was. Kate stopped focusing on the murder board and stared at the empty chair beside her desk. She bit her bottom lip and smiled as she thought about Castle.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Castle took a detour on his way home from the precinct. He stopped by several stores for food and gifts. He bought a pretty welcome home sign that was printed in gold letters and glittery edges, stopped by one of Alexis's favorite jewelry store, and spent most of his time browsing through the colorful jewelry. Castle first looked at some diamond bracelets, bracelets with stones, and then found a slinky sliver bracelet with small diamonds on the side and small aqua stones in the middle. He picked it up and thought about how happy she would be to receive it tonight. He glanced at the rings on the far left wall and he could hear the echo of Kate's voice in his mind, "Third times a charm."

If she knew that he was thinking of marrying her when she said those words she would probably freak out or run away. He sometimes wondered who broke her heart so bad that she felt like she had to run from the things she wanted most. Honestly, it scared him that she was always running from her relationships, but he was determined to keep her close. She was a mystery and he already figured out a lot about her.

Castle had set that gold sign on the the door and only had to wait five minutes when Alexis and Martha excitedly barged through the door.

"Dad!" Alexis exclaimed as she ran into his arms, hugging him tightly, and not daring to let go.

"Hey, pumpkin how was your flight?" Castle asked, pulling away from his daughter's embrace and looking at her face quizzically.

"Never again let me travel alone for two weeks with Grams," Alexis said rolling her eyes.

"Come on honey, I wasn't that bad."

"Dad, I'm so embarrassed she flirted with everyone! The security guards, flight attendants, and worse the professors. I don't know if I could go to any of the colleges we looked into."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," Martha said, dismissing her with a wave of her hand. "I'm going to unpack and take a shower. Call me down for dinner."

Castle and Alexis smiled at each other knowingly and hugged once more. "Kate is joining us for dinner. Want to help me cook?"

A big smile appeared on Alexis's face as she said, "Let me just put my bags away and I'll be down to help you."

Castle retreated to the kitchen to dress the chicken with the concoction of fresh pineapple and other random ingredients he decided to try. He was relieved to have Alexis, shortly by his side and they both silently cut up vegetables for the salad. As the time grew closer to dinner: Castle nervously fluttered through the kitchen, checked on the chicken in oven, and then checked his phone. He was going crazy, knowing that Kate and him were going to talk later. He didn't want to pester Kate, but he called her just to make sure she was still coming over.

Castle must have changed his shirt about a dozen times until he finally settled for his black and gray button buttoned down shirt. Seven-thirty on the dot there was a knock on the door and Castle masked his nervousness as he answered the door, calmly. "Hey," was all he could say at first.

"You changed?" Kate asked, taking in the wonderful sight and the strong smell of his cologne.

"Uh, yeah," Castle answered, looking down at her feet and then back up at her. "But it looks like I'm not the only one," he smirked as he pointing to her heels.

It always amazed Kate how perceptive Castle was and she loved him for that.

His heart fluttered when he saw the warm smile appear on her face and the sparkle in her hazel green eyes. He smiled back at her in return.

Realizing that she was still standing in the doorway Kate chided, "Are you going to make me eat out here or-".

Castle's eyes popped open and he quickly stepped aside and opened the door wider to let Kate in. His eyes dropped to the bottle of wine she held in her hand and he took it as he gestured her into the room. "I hope your starving because I made an awesome dinner for you."

"I could eat a cow." Kate said holding her stomach. Castle didn't doubt that for second. He nodded at her knowing perfectly well that she barely ate at work.

"If you would let me take you out for lunch, we wouldn't have that problem," Castle said and he watched Kate roll her eyes at him.

Alexis bounded down the stairs, when she heard Kate's voice, eager to eat dinner.

"How was your trip?" Kate asked.

"We'll talk after we eat," Alexis said looking towards the table, hoping that there would be something there she could sneak a bite of before they start.

* * *

><p>Been a little busy with things but wrote this as soon as I found the time.<p>

If there are grammatical errors or if anyone wants to be my beta you could pm.

Thanks for the reviews!


	10. Chapter 10

Settled comfortably in their chairs; they all began to fill their plates with the salad, chicken, rice, and bread that Castle carried out. They sat comfortably at the dinner table, laughing at the story Alexis was telling about her trip with Grams. Kate kept stealing nervous glances at Rick as she ate but calmed down when he kept smiling back.

"Dad tells me you went to his book signing. Did we miss anything good?" Alexis asked Kate innocently.

Kate could feel her cheeks flush with embarrassment as she remembered that wonderful night. She quickly turned her poker face on and replied, "Don't worry you didn't miss much. You know perfectly well how these parties work. Your dad had random women at his side most of the time and they begged him to sign everything even their," she looked down and jealousy seeped into her voice as she said, "breasts." She flashed a forced smile at Alexis and was thankful that Castle was able to steer the conversation somewhere else as she got lost in her own thoughts.

After they finished eating Martha disappeared to her room. Kate helped put the leftovers away, rinse the dirty dishes and place them in the dishwasher. Due to the jet lag, Alexis told them that she was going to hit the sack early. Kate was surprised when Alexis put her arms around her, pulled her close for a hug, and said, "Thanks for coming to our house for dinner. We love having you." Kate recovered quickly and found herself hugging Alexis back as a smile spread across her face. Alexis placed a quick kiss on Kate's cheek and called good night over her shoulder before heading sleepily to bed. That girl always had a way of making her feel loved.

Once Alexis left to her room Kate and Castle found themselves staring at each other and an awkward silence settled among them.

"Kate, before we start talking I have something I want to give you." Castle said as he lead her towards the couch to sit. He pulled out a small box and handed it to her. Kate eyed the box suspiciously, scared about what might be inside of it. She could feel her heartbeat flutter rapidly inside of her chest. What the hell? He can't be serious! Is this a joke? She prayed there wouldn't be a ring inside.

Castle watched Kate struggle with the box he presented. He didn't realize that she would get so worked up over the box. He had to reassure her.

"It's just a thank you gift for everything you have done for me," Castle quickly added. Kate breathed in relief and relaxed her shoulders. Castle proudly watched Kate's hand shake, Her eyes pop out of their sockets, and a few tears form in the corner of her eyes when she opened up the white box.

Kate let out the breath she didn't realize she held and managed to relax a little bit. Even though he assured her that it wouldn't be a ring Kate still hesitantly opened the box.

"It's beautiful Castle," she said, eying the bracelet and running her long slender fingers across the small diamonds.

"Castle, I can't!" she looked up at him teary eyed. His heart stopped beating. Was she really going to leave the relationship that never started. He tried talking but couldn't seem to find his voice. "I can't take this bracelet. It's too much."

He was so surprised by her reaction because most of the women he knew, would die for this bracelet. They would do anything for him just to get something from him, but not Kate. That's what struck him most about her. She was a very independent women and she didn't like to receive help from anyone. It was the one thing that annoyed him, but admired about her. He wished sometimes that she would let on more about what she felt, but he knew that, that was wishful thinking for now. If he pestered her enough maybe she would finally understand that he really cares about her. He would never leave her even if a million obstacles are thrown their way.

"I wouldn't know what to wear with this. It's too fancy," Kate said.

"Just wear those heels you got on and it'll go perfectly with that bracelet," he said with a smirk on his face. Kate rolled her eyes but smiled back at him.

"Castle, before you give this to me you might want to hear me out." That treacherous feeling he had earlier, returned to the pit of his stomach.

"No, nothing you say will make me take this back!" He said, firmly looking her straight in the eye. "I know its not easy having me around the precinct all the time, you deserve this."

"Yeah, you're right you are soo annoying," she lifted her eyes to his and smirked. "But I've gotten used to it." she bit her bottom lip playfully. She slowly but nervously continued, "Castle, I remembered everything from that day, the funeral, the gun shot," her eyes watered as she said, "and the words you said."

She couldn't breathe. She just stared at him waiting, expecting him to speak or yell. He looked blankly at her, trying to comprehend what she said and then he realized.

"When? Did you always know? Did something happen to help you remember?" Tons of questions popped into his head but she cut him off.

"I always knew. Please, before you get mad that I lied, hear me out." She didn't want to lose him now, and she had to start by telling him the truth. "When you said those words, I just got shot. I didn't know if you meant what you said, or if you were saying it because I got shot. At that time I was still with Josh and I just needed time to think about what I wanted." She tried talking as fast she could so she could get everything she wanted out there, but she could see the anger grow in his eyes and face.

"I remember those days perfectly," Castle said harshly. "I worried about you everyday."

"I'm sorry!" Kate bit her lips trying to hold the tears back. She was trying to keep all her emotions in check, but this was going to be be so damn hard.

"What if things don't work out between us? What if you leave-" She could feel the tears threatening to leave the rims of her eyes but she forced them back by blinking a couple of times.

He could feel the anger rise inside of him. "Don't you think we should talk about this together? You know, before you write off what we have going on between us." He knew he had to calm down. He was scared that if he didn't talk calmly, she might run from him again.

"I've been with you for so many years. I know I haven't got the most perfect record, but can't you trust me? "

"I do trust you, I trust you with my life."

"But not with your heart?" Castle quipped. He didn't mean to be so harsh with her but he couldn't stop himself.

"I'm not ready for those words yet.." he could see the pleading look in her eyes as she said it.

"I'm not going to push you to say it, not ever, but you have to trust me." he said softly.

"I told you, those walls I've built, they are still up. Thanks to you they are slowly coming down. I want to have that one and done relationship with you."

Castle ran his fingers across her lips and then leaned in and kissed her on the lips. She kissed him back and raised her hands to his face. They started out slow and soon made their way deeper into each others mouths. Castle ran his fingers through her hair, pulling her closer to him. Their breathing increased and Kate let out a soft moan as Castle left a trail of kisses from her neck to her mouth. Castle pulled away and said,"I love you Kate."


	11. Chapter 11

_ Castle pulled away and said, "I love you, Kate."_

Kate woke up in her bed the next morning smiling to herself. It still scared the shit out of her that he was able to say to her, "I love you, " so freely. That feeling was quickly quenched by the feeling of her heart fluttering as she reviewed the events of the night before. It was definitely the most terrifying but amazing night ever. She really liked him, but when she heard those words she had to escape.

Kate came up with an excuse and said, "It's getting late and I'll have to be at the precinct early tomorrow, I should go.""

"You don't have to go," Castle said while he let go of her reluctantly, "you could always sleep here."

She declined his offer and said, "I can't, I don't have any of my stuff here. No, not this time."

"So there will be a next time?" Castle asked giving her an excited look.

She placed her bottom lip under her top front teeth and flashed him a smile. She didn't answer him. She just gathered her things and kissed castle one more time before leaving his loft.

As soon as she got to her empty apartment, she instantly regretted her decision about leaving him. She missed his touch, his smell, and his comfort. She went to bed and for once slept through the night without having any nightmares. All she dreamed about was RICK.

** XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

Rick woke up the next morning to the ringing sound of the house phone. Even though it would have been a rude awakening, this morning he didn't mind at all. The smile on his face refused to falter from his face. The talk last night was epic and he knew they broke through some major barriers. The issues would still be present but at least she was telling him about them. He wanted her to stay over night, wished that she would agree, but knew when she declined pleasantly, that he shouldn't push her into doing something she wasn't ready to do.

Rick got up to answer the phone but Alexis had beat him to it. He went out to the kitchen to make breakfast and could see his daughter staring at the page before her, deep in thought. "What do you have there, sweetie?"

"Dad," Alexis said slowly not sure how to pitch her idea to her dad, "This semester is going to be so boring. I'm barely taking any classes this semester and there is this really cute guy in one of my classes..."

Castle couldn't help tuning her out when she babbled like this, but his ears perked up when he heard, "I want to get an internship job. I found one that will work with my schedule. I get to chose my days and hours, and I want the same schedule as the cute guy I was telling you about. The problem is my schedule will never fit perfectly with his."Alexis said with a perplexed look on her face.

"I don't know if I want you... Don't you think it's a bad idea to work with someone you want to get involved with?" Castle asked his daughter. When he saw her pointed look and smirk, he quickly said, "I'm not getting paid and she is just my muse, so technically, I don't work with her." He understood exactly what she was implying and felt the need to defend himself.

"I'm just worried about you and your father will always worry about the women in his life." He thought about Kate, her mom's murder, Kate's mystery shooter, and the untraceable, mystery man on the phone line. He knew she was a cop and that she could take care of herself, but when it came to her mom's murder, all common sense seemed to fly out the window. He couldn't handle the thought of losing her and he was going to do his best to keep her safe.

Alexis rolled her eyes at him and said, trying to reassure him, "Dad it's just a schedule and I could always change my days if things go wrong."

Castle's eyes got big and he said loudly to no one in particular, " The schedules! The schedules on that disk! They are probably from someone she knew. Maybe it's another flight attendants, or maybe she had a secret boyfriend."

"We'll discuss this topic later." he said quickly to his daughter.

He was so excited by his idea, he quickly ate breakfast, got dressed, and headed out for the precinct to tell Kate about his new theory. Rick knew he would probably spend the day by Kate's desk, bored out of his mind, as he searched through all the flight attendant's schedules, but at the moment he didn't care.

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

"What if it's the schedules?" Castle said walking towards Kate's desk and handing her a hot cup of coffee. "We should see if any of the schedules on the disk match up to any of the other flight attendant's schedules."

"Good idea, Castle. Since it was your idea, why don't you look into that?" Kate asked with a smirk.

Castle knew that Kate would ask him to look into the files but he was kind of hoping that she would help him with it. "Your not going to help me?" he whined giving her a sad puppy dog look.

"You sound like a five year old." Kate said raising her eyebrows at him and laughing. She couldn't ignore the look he was giving her, so she gave in and rolled her eyes before saying, "Give me half and I'll help you."

"You look really pretty today." Castle said looking her up and down and then staring into her eyes. This wasn't the first time he's told her this but it always made her feel good, hearing him say it.

"Thanks, your not so bad yourself." She couldn't help getting lost into his beautiful blue eyes.

"Castle, stop!" Kate said suddenly looking around the room towards Ryan and Esposito. Seeing that they were pretending to be busy by their desks, she said quietly and quickly, "You're distracting me and we have a lot of files to search through."

She tried to hide the smile when she saw him pout at her and quickly dove into the files. They spent most of their morning hours sitting by her desk, attempting to flip through the dozens of files. She couldn't concentrate with him staring at her so she mumbled an excuse and left her desk.

* * *

><p>Hope you like it!<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

_ "Castle, stop!" Kate said suddenly looking around the room towards Ryan and Esposito. Seeing that they were pretending to be busy by their desks, she said quietly and quickly, "You're distracting me and we have a lot of files to search through."_  
><em>She tried to hide the smile when she saw him pout at her and quickly dove into the files. They spent most of their morning hours sitting by her desk, attempting to flip through the dozens of files. She couldn't concentrate with him staring at her so she mumbled an excuse and left her desk<em>

Kate slipped into the break room and started up the coffee machine. She stood there watching as the steaming, hot brown liquid poured through the small spout. She let her mind wander to how she ever let herself get so caught up in Castle. Although most people thought that she became mesmerized by him when he showed up at the the precinct, the truth was she was mesmerized since that first time she read his book.

It was right after her mom's murder, She was going through some of her mom's things and she found one of his books in her mom's draw. The book smelled like her mother and she just loved the plot. The detective was always trying to do the right thing and had an extremely clever mind.

Castle unknowingly gave her the idea to find out what really happened to her mother. She became obsessed with his books and read up on everything there was to know about him. She would go to the library and spend her afternoons curled up on a chair, reading. It would beat going home to..

"Stupid women! Why can't she just make up her freakin mind already?" Esposito sauntered into the room, Muttering to himself in total frustration. He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Beckett clear her throat.

"Everything okay?"

"Why don't you ask your best friend?" Esposito said evasively and quickly headed out as if he was scared that she would question him further.

Not one to share her private life or pry into other people's lives, she decided that this one time, she would have to question Lanie about what just happened. It worried her how much those two fought with each other and wondered what would happen if things didn't work out between Castle and her. Would they end up fighting or will they work through their differences like Ryan and Jenny.

She carefully brought her coffee out, a few minutes later, and found Castle whispering with Ryan over at Esposito's desk. She watched them speak and laugh for a few minutes before she glided over to break up the party.

"Guess who is finally ready for us?" Castle said to Beckett when he heard her footfalls behind him. He turned around to look at her and gave her a mischievous smile. Kate made no attempt to answer, but she gave him a stern and questioningly look.

In all excitement and disappointment he said in a whiny voice, "Come on, it's no fun if you don't guess." Kate didn't answer. she wasn't in the mood for one of his guessing games. Instead, she turned to Ryan and raised an eye brow at him.

Ryan took a big gulp and quickly answered, " The sketch artist said the we should bring Mr. Turner's girlfriend, Tracey, downstairs. "

"You take the fun out of everything." Castle exclaimed. Kate made sure Castle was watching her and she dramatically rolled her eyes at him before walking away, with him at her heels. He kept going on and on about how she sucked the fun out of everything and how it would've been more fun if she would just use her imagination and guess. If he knew that he was in her dreams and how far she let her imagination run, she doubted that he would say that ever again. These past few weeks, she couldn't get him out of her head and she blamed it on the small moments they had before, during and after their cases. It was mostly ever since he whispered those words in the graveyard, when they woke up next to each other cuffed, and after they shared that dance with each other at Ryan's weddings.

When they both sat down again, Kate was upset that she let Castle get to her and swore to herself that she will never let it happen to her, at work, ever again. Those feelings for him kept growing stronger, but she was determined not to let them show at work. They spent countless hours leafing through many files as they waited for Tracey and the sketch artist to finish. The sketch artist finally emerged from the room with the sketch of a man in hand.

Kate instantly recognized the face on the pad. The drawing held that defined squared jaw, high cheek bones, and light mustache above his mouth. It never surprised her how easily people lied, in the interrogation room, but usually she was able to see through their shit. It surprised her how the man alibied out but was still seen at the park. They were going to have to question two people again.

"Recognize him?" She asked castle as she held the paper out for him to look at it.

Castle must have recognized him just like she did, "Oh my G-d! That son of a-"

"Bee, run there's a bee!" Esposito screamed.

Kate and Castle swung around to see what the big commotion was about and found themselves staring at a half empty room and two men disappearing from the room. They were all running like little girls and Castle was about to join them.

It was weird that there would be a bee outside, especially during this cold weather. They both froze when they caught a glimpse of the bee that was making its way towards them. Castle grabbed Kate's hand attempting to tug her out of the room with him.

"No, Castle, don't move." Even though his instincts were telling him to flee,Castle froze as soon as he heard the urgency rush into her voice. "Trust me if you stand still, then the bee will go away."

They both watched as the black and yellow striped bee landed on Castle's nose. His fingers turned white from gripping the edge of Kate's desk. He fought that urge to swat at it and cry out in fear. Just when he thought he wouldn't be able to stand like that anymore, the bee lost interest in his nose, flew in a circle around them, and then landed on Kate's arm. Castle let out a sigh of relief as soon as the bee lifted from his face, but he couldn't get rid of that protective feeling he got when the bee landed on Kate's arm. She stood there calmly and stared at it as if it would quake like Ryan had a few moments earlier. After, what seemed like an hour but was really only six long minutes, the bee finally retreated back through the open window it originally came through. They both crossed over the room to the open window and quickly closed it as one last cold breeze entered the heated room.

"You see that small brown but gold thing in the top corner of the window? That's the beehive." Castle said pointing upwards, " You better tell Gates to get rid of it, or you wont be able to open that window for a while."

"I think everyone on this floor will complain about it, but there are usually more important things, that the city has to spend their budget on."Kate said and Castle shook his head in disapproval.

Everyone started returning to the room and they all spoke animatedly with each other. Castle joined them in the story telling and helped them by including his version of how the events went, but was interrupted by Kate.

" Well, we better get going. We have a suspect to pick up." Kate said when he came to the end of his story. Castle eagerly followed Beckett towards the elevators.

* * *

><p>Thank you lv2bnsb1 for your review. When I wrote "You're not so bad yourself" I didn't mean it to be in a snarky way. I was thinking of it being said in a shy but flirty kind of way, but i guess it didn't come out that way.<p> 


	13. Chapter 13

The whole ride down the elevator Castle had spoken animatedly to anyone who would listen. The officers who joined them on the ride down, seemed to enjoy Castle's two minute story. Now, after sitting in the car for several minutes, Castle didn't utter a single word. Kate was not used to him being so quiet and the silence was beginning to irk her to no ends. She stole a glance at him before weaving into even more traffic. Every car sat bumper to bumper and right now she was sitting behind a red car with a bumper sticker that read: "If your not happy, fake it! Nobody wants to hear your crap."

"Are you alright, Castle?" Kate asked, when she noticed a frown forming on Castle's face while he sent out a text from his phone.

He breathed out a long sigh before responding, " It's just Alexis. She is ecstatic about this idea to find a job as an intern and I'm just a little nervous about this idea. I remember my first job. I tried to prove to my mother that I could be a responsible adult but that didn't work out too well." Castle chuckled to himself as he remembered.

Kate thought he would explain himself and go into detail about his first job, but he sat there for a minute, lost in thought. She cursed silently to herself in frustration from the traffic and would have turned on her lights and siren but she already knew that during this hour, it will be no use to her.

Castle looked at her giving her a knowing smile while he waited patiently for her to ask about his story.

She would have waited longer before pressing him for his story because he looked like he was dying to tell her about it, but she needed something to take her mind off the unmoving traffic.

"What happened at your first job?"

" You sure you want to know?" Castle asked, as a cocky smile crept across his face. Kate instantly regretted the question and flashed him an 'are you serious' look.

"Being a waiter was the first job I ever took. Let's just say it wasn't the best job for me. People didn't like to hear my stories about how their fish spoke to me a few hours earlier, nor did they appreciate it when I spoke to them in a Count Dracula voice as I poured them their wine. " How vould you like your blooood?" He said, leaning in closer to her ear and quickly backed away before her hand met his face.

"You did not say that! How could you tell them that they were drinking blood." Kate said, in total disbelief.

Castle sat there laughing before speaking again. "I was bored there! I had to entertain myself somehow. You should know that, that wasn't what got me fired." He paused for a moment before saying, "If you think I'm ruggedly handsome now, you should have seen me when I was younger." He raised his eyebrows at her and continued when a tight amused smile appeared on her face. "All the girls would come to the restaurant just to see me. It wasn't the stories I told by the counter instead of waiting on tables, or the free food I gave away to all the hot girls. The thing that got me fired was when I served a dish of spaghetti that was drenched in meat sauce. As I was putting the plate on the table, a really hot girl entered the restaurant. She was a brunette and I still remember what she was wearing. It was a short emerald green dress with beige open toed pumps. The only thing I regretted was I never caught her name or spoke with her."

He watched Kate's fingers tighten around the steering wheel. He couldn't help but smile at the fact that she may be jealous. She had an awesome poker face that he always admired. It amazed him how she was able to keep her emotions in check and keep a straight face, but it was her fingers that gave her away. Although he loved seeing her jealous, he quickly moved on to finish his tale.

"Anyways, she walked in as I was putting the plate on the white table cloth and I tripped over my feet. Instead of the plate landing on the table it landed on top of the couple sitting there and all over my hair. There was meat sauce all over the place and all I could do was sit there. My boss immediately came out and yelled at me. Those were the best but worst two weeks of my life."

He watched for a few minutes as she laughed at the thought of him covered in spaghetti and sauce.

"Luckily I came to my senses and picked up writing." Castle said brightly, "I remember getting crappy article jobs at _The Times_ and I don't want her to go through those hard times of being at the bottom of the link. She's my sweet little girl and I'm scared they will take advantage of her."

"Everyone has to start at the bottom of the food chain and there is nothing we could do to stop it."

"I wish I could." Castle said running his fingers through his hair.

"She could handle herself with any job. You know that right?" Kate said, placing her hand on his arm trying to comfort him. She could see that he still remained unconvinced. " Castle, If you want I could take her out and speak with her, try to help her figure it out. "

He could not believe that she just offered to help his daughter. Not many women offered to talk or spend time with Alexis and he usually didn't let any of the women he dated, get close to her. He didn't want Alexis to get hurt when things didn't work out. He learned after his first marriage with Meredith, that most people are too selfish to care about others. He remembered the look Alexis used to get every time Meredith left to follow one of her dream jobs or after one of her short visits. After the failed marriage with Meredith, He swore that as long as he lived, he would never let Alexis look like that again. He didn't date anyone for awhile, but then he met Gina. When he first started dating Gina, she didn't want anything to do with Alexis but then later complained to him when he spent a lot of his time with his daughter.

He was really happy that Kate wanted to spend time with Alexis."Really? You don't mind?" Castle asked, as a warm feeling spread through his heart.

" Yeah, it's not a big deal." Kate said with a genuine smile, "Plus I like your daughter."

"Thank you." Castle whispered quietly taking her hand in his and squeezing it softly, "I really appreciate it." They sat there looking into each others eyes but were forced to pull away when the car behind them honked at them rudely. Even though the car was only able to move up two inches, the car behind them was impatient to move those inches.

"Why don't we get off Park Ave? Make a right turn here and then make a left on 2nd Ave? It will go so much faster." Castle said, when he looked up and noticed that they had been driving for twenty minutes through this awful traffic.

"Castle I know how to drive and if I take that street I will be stuck in traffic like this or even worse traffic"

"Trust me if you cut through to this street then we will get there faster. Sometimes side streets will get you there faster instead of the direct roads."

Kate knew he might be right this time and sighed before turning the wheel to follow his directions.

It took them ten minutes and three light conversations until they reached their destination.


	14. Chapter 14

As soon as they entered the Dragon Hotel, they felt the warm air meet their cold faces, hands and feet. Although they had the heat cranked all the way up in the car, as soon as they hit the sidewalk, the cold air instantly froze them as they walked those ten treacherous steps towards the hotel. Kate walked up to the front desk leaving Castle trailing behind. He was too busy, standing there, admiring the way the room was designed. Inside it was a big airy space and the furniture remained spread out. In the corners there were two coffee colored leather couches surrounding a brightly lit fire place. There were five small tables in the middle for people to sit by and and eat a meal or a snack.

Castle returned his attention back to Beckett, and realized that she had already asked and received Mr. Rodgers room number. "This place is amazing. We should come here together." He said, as he hurried after her when she headed for the elevators.

Kate shot castle a smile before saying in a low sexy voice, " If you behave and play your cards right, it may happen sooner then you think." Castle stood there with a goofy grin and pulled kate closer to him. "Castle, stop!" She said, in a low voice as regret appeared on her face, "We can't do this when we are on a job."

"Just until the doors open?" Castle asked, hopefully pulling her towards him once more.

At the moment she couldn't say no to him. Her self control caved and she allowed him to hold her against his chest, taking in the warmth his body held. It was a matter of seconds before their eyes and lips met and she enjoyed the sweet taste of his mouth when her tongue brushed against his. She felt a fire burn in the bottom of her stomach as she ached for more of him. Breathing was becoming an issue and moan escaped her lips as they continued the steamy kisses. A minute later they were forced to break apart when the elevator bell rang and opened to the second floor. They stood there for a second longer gasping as they caught their breaths

* * *

><p>They walked up to the wooden door that hung a golden frame with the number 2B written across it. The echo of Beckett's knocks reverberated off the hallway walls. "Mr. Rodgers open up, POLICE! Open up!" Beckett yelled, at the closed door. She put her ear to the door to listen for a sound and yelled out a yelp when the door suddenly swung wide open, revealing Mr. Rodgers,dressed in nothing but boxers.<p>

"Detective?" Mr Rodgers asked in surprise, "What did I do to get this visit?"

Beckett couldn't help but let her eyes wander over his body, First it swept across his muscular chest and then fell to batman boxers. Castle's fingers slowly made its way down her back and they possessively cupped the bottom of her back, just above her butt. Feeling his fingers curl around her waist, She instantly looked up at him and found jealousy written all over his face. Kate felt guilty for letting her eyes wander and quickly threw Castle an apologetic look. She let his fingers linger there for a little longer but she hoped he understood that when they were in the field, he would have to keep his emotions to himself. The close proximity was throwing her off her game and she needed a little space from him in order to stay sharp.

Kate cleared her throat and faced Mr. Rodgers pulling away from Castle warm grasp. "We have a few more questions regarding the murder of Ms. Azoulay. May we come in and talk in private?" she asked, before Castle could jump in with the accusations. She wanted Mr. Rodgers to talk freely and she knew the only way that would happen is if she interrogates him as delicately as a person walking on egg shells.

"Are you any closer to figuring out who murdered her?" Mr. Rodgers asked, leading them towards two arm chairs located near the window.

"We have a suspect in mind" Castle said, with a pointed look in his eyes.

Kate also kept her eyes on Mr. Rodgers trying to see if his body language would give anything away. "Mr. Rodgers, The other day, you told us that you spent the whole night in the bar."

"Yeah, so.." he said, with an uncaring tone but his hands kept fidgeting in his lap.

She watched his fidgety hands and pushed on, "The bar tender has claimed to see you in the bar that night, but unfortunately the bar was crowded that night, so he wasn't able to see you there the whole time." She looked at his face hoping for a change in his expression but nothing changed.

"You could have slipped away" She said, waiting for him to take the bait and confess. Seeing that this wasn't going anywhere she got down to business and said, " We have a witness placing you at the park the night, right before she was murdered."

"I didn't kill her!" he said, and his eyes flew wide open at what she was implying.

This was the first reaction she received from him but she normally got this before a confession.

"I, I think I should get a lawyer. I want a lawyer." Mr. Rodgers said, playing with his fingers by intertwining them and then cracking his knuckles.

Beckett sighed because she knew that time will be wasted on trying to get around the lawyer, but smiled because it meant that she struck something.

* * *

><p>Ryan and Esposito remained at the precinct while Castle and Beckett took off to interrogate Mr. Rodgers. The two of them hastily hurried out of the precinct just before they dumped useless folders, filled with flight and hotel schedules, on their desks. They were told to search through the schedules but they quickly deviated from the the job at hand when they stumbled upon an ad for twilight.<p>

The poll read: "_Are you team Edward or team Jacob?"_

Esposito and Ryan simultaneously answered the question but each giving a different name.

"Oh, come on bro, Jacob is so much better!" Esposito exclaimed.

"No way! Jacob falls in love with a baby, smells like a dog and Edward lives forever!" Ryan responded.

"I'm with Esposito on this one, team Jacob most definitely. I mean who would want a blood sucker?" Castle chimed in, and both of the detectives spun around with a folder in their hand opened to a random page as they pretended to leaf through the papers when they saw Beckett standing next to him.

"Seriously guys, stop acting like little girls and focus." Kate said and then asked, "Did Mr. Rodgers flights or hotel schedules match the ones on the disk?"

Ryan and Esposito shook their heads saying, "No."

They needed more evidence or a confession before they could fully convict him. It was going to take a little more time for the search warrant to come through and they couldn't speak to Mr. Rodgers until his lawyer showed up. Kate hated it when she had to deal with lawyers and she knew that things were going to be tied up for awhile. She took this as a sign to break for lunch.

She sent a text to Lanie asking her to meet her at Hungs China City for Chinese food. Her face instantly lit up when she received the text that answered, "Yes, I'll meet you there soon."

" See you guys soon, I'm just going out for lunch and I suggest you guys do the same before things get busy here." Kate said, grabbing her beige coat with some fur lining her neck and she zipped her coat all the way up.

Castle sat there puzzled. Why didn't she invite him to join her for lunch? He knew she didn't want him to crowd her when she worked, but this was just lunch and they have eaten out together a lot of times. The worst was she didn't even think to invite him and he didn't know who she was going out to eat with. He knew that whatever they had going on between them, just started but for some reason he expected more.

He sent Kate a text: " _Who are you eating lunch with? You don't invite me?"_

"Do you think she is dating a guy? If you haven't realized, she has been smiling a lot more lately." Esposito said quietly to Ryan but Castle still managed to hear it.

" I thought there was something going on between Castle and Beckett" Ryan said, pointing towards Castle. But from the look on Castle's face it didn't seem the case anymore.

Esposito and Ryan kept shooting each other glances as Castle sauntered away waiting for Beckett to respond.

"_Getting lunch with Lanie. Having some girl time. Be back soon :)" _Kate had text back less then a few minutes later.

"_Since Lanie gets to have lunch with you, Can I get dinner with you?_" Castle sent, and he waited eagerly for her reply.

* * *

><p>RIP Joe, you will always be in my heart.<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

Kate arrived at Hung's China City and scanned all of the faces in the restaurant, searching for Lanie. When she didn't see her, Kate looked down at her father's watch for the time and noticed that she came a few minutes early. With the few extra minutes, she found a table towards the back of the restaurant, near a window, away from prying ears. Her phone started buzzing and she quickly fumbled for it from the inside of her pocket. A smile appeared on her face when she saw it was from Castle.

After responding to two of Castle's texts and drumming her fingers impatiently over the wooden table, Lanie finally showed up.

"Ah, you finally decided to show?" Kate said putting her phone away, ignoring the last text Castle sent her. Rising from the table, with a smile on her face, she greeted her best friend.

"I'm only a few minutes late," Lanie said. From the corner of her eye she confirmed with her watch that she was only two minutes late. "How is your day going?" Lanie asked, shedding her coat and moving her chair away from the table so she was sitting directly across from Kate.

"It's actually going well; I think we caught Ms. Azoulay's killer today."

"Why are you here then? Shouldn't you be down there busting his chops?"

"He lawyered up, so now we have to wait for his lawyer and the search warrant to come through." Kate looked at Lanie and could tell that she was barely listening. "The man I arrested today greeted me only wearing Batman boxers. Seeing him like that made me lose all control. Instead of interrogating him, I spent my morning running my fingers across his chest. I just couldn't keep my hands off him when I saw his big muscles." Kate said, searching Lanie's face for a reaction, but when she didn't receive any she lightly asked, "How are you doing?"

Some think I'm bad when it comes to sharing, Kate thought, but that is only because they never had to question Lanie. Lanie loved listening to other people's problems and forcing her own advice upon them, but hated it when it came her turn to spill about her problems and feelings.

"Same as always. You know, had a few dead bodies drop by my place," Lanie said, placing a fake smile on her face.

"I didn't ask how your day was going," Kate said, giving Lanie a stern look that she usually kept for interrogations, " I asked how you're doing." Softly placing her hand on her friends arm, she asked again, "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine, just fine." Lanie answered, trying to stall the inevitable conversation for just a few more minutes.

"You're doing fine?" Kate asked suspiciously and raised her eyebrows as she said, "Is that why Javier walked into the the break room, this morning, muttering under his breath something about the two of you having problems? What is going on with you and Javier?"

"Uh, uh! The real question is what's going on between you and writer boy? Did you get a chance to speak with him?" Lanie asked trying to throw Kate off her back.

"Nice try, Lanie, answer my questions and then I will give you all the details you want," Kate said hoping Lanie would take the bait.

Lanie sighed in defeat. If Kate was going to share some dirty details about Castle then she could suck it up and answer some of her questions. "It's complicated."

"Aren't all good things complicated?" Kate said, but with a look that pressed Lanie to speak.

"It's just, I like him a lot and I want things to move forward eventually, but for now I just want things to stay the way it is. He wants things to move a little faster like us moving into an apartment together, but it's going way too fast .It's just so hard to talk with him. The same arguments keep coming up and he is so thickheaded that we never resolve anything."

Kate shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She couldn't really say anything because in the past, she never had an ideal relationship. She knew she was going to have to face a similar situation with Castle, but was thankful it didn't present itself yet. Unsure of how to respond, she smiled weakly at Lanie and said the first thing she could think of. "I would tell you to suck it up and fake it until you feel it, but I know you're not the type to do that. Lanie," Kate said in a soft but firm voice as she rubbed Lanie's arm, "As much as I love seeing you happy with Esposito, if all you do is fight, maybe it's time to get away from it.

"You're telling me to bail? No wonder your relationships never last!" Lanie said angrily but calmed down when she was the hurtful look in Kate eyes. "Sorry, I really don't want it to end and the problem is I know you might be right."  
>Not wanting to talk about her relationship with Javier any more, Lanie quickly changed the topic, "So tell me what really happened to the guy in Batman boxers." Kate laughed and went through what really happened that morning.<p>

* * *

><p>Kate walked into the precinct and found the boys talking in hushed voices amongst themselves. They all pulled away as soon as they heard the elevator doors open. Castle looked up with a startled look on his face but she didn't give it second thought.<p>

"What's going on?" She asked looking at Castle.

"Oh, umm... we're—" Castle said, averting his eyes away and looking down at his shoes.

She could tell that there was something going on, that maybe he was hiding something from her but didn't know what it could be. She got an uneasy feeling, but before she could question him further about it, Ryan chimed in, "Mr. Rodgers is with his lawyer in interrogation 1, and Mr Turner is in interrogation 2." Castle disappeared into the break room and Kate went to her desk to put her things away. When she finished, Castle returned with two hot coffees. Kate tried to catch his eye before taking the drink from him but it seemed like he was avoiding direct eye contact.

* * *

><p>"Hope you were comfortable down in holding, Mr. Rodgers." Kate said entering the room with Castle by her side, "Are you thirsty? Do you need a drink?" She asked looking him up and down, happy to see him wearing more than just his underwear.<p>

She walked towards Mr. Rodgers and placed her coffee down on the table. She couldn't concentrate now. What was Castle hiding from her? She realized that he purposely looked away and avoided all eye contact. She hoped he didn't do anything or plan on doing something stupid.

She carefully opened the file she held in her hands and gave Mr. Rodgers a hard, cold stare. "Mr. Rodgers," Kate said, slamming the folder down hard on the table, causing Mr. Rodgers to jump in his chair. " Someone placed you in the park the night Ms. Azoulay was murdered and in the right time frame. The worse thing about it, you lied to me about where you were that night."

A lot of people were lying to her lately, or not telling her the whole truth she thought bitterly to herself. Either way it meant the same thing. People can never be trusted. "Now, you could either confess and tell me what really happened that night, or you could spend a really long time locked away." If only she could lock up Castle until he told her what was going on in that handsome little head of his. Memories of being cuffed to him sprang to mind. Turning her attention to Mr. Rodgers, she pushed the memories away.

Mr. Rodgers held his tongue and looked at his lawyer unsure, waiting for the green light so he could start talking. After a long pause, he spat out, "I know how the police work. They twist people's words around just so they could close their cases. They don't really care about the truth. I'm not going to let this happen to me," he said with pride from his outburst. But, his expression changed when his lawyer told him to shut up.

Kate decided to push him a little harder. "We already have you at the scene and now we have a search warrant. Even if you don't confess; when we find your clothes from that night, covered in her blood, you will go away for good," she said putting a big emphasis on her last words. "Just tell me again what happened that night." She said in a cold tone.

" Don't say anything. You don't have to talk." The lawyer said to Mr. Rodgers," When they don't find anything, they won't be able to prove anything."

"If it wasn't you, then don't you want to help us out? Don't you want to know who killed Ms. Azoulay? Think of your friend! " Kate asked, grasping at straws, hoping the questions would end and the answers would finally come.

She must have struck a chord or something because he started talking even after his lawyer begged him to stop.

"I didn't even know she was murdered in the park until you told me about it. I was not lying when I told you I was at the bar that night, and I was there with Ms. Pryer. She was just really drunk, so she didn't notice when I left for ten minutes to follow Ms. Azoulay and the guy she was having drinks with in the bar. "

"You mean her ex-husband?"

"Yeah," he said in disgust. "The point is, when you told me that she was murdered in the park, I knew it would look bad that I was there too."

"Why were you there? Why did you follow her to the park?" Castle asked.

"She was supposed to meet her ex and the whole plane ride she was anxious about it. I just went because I wanted to make sure she would be alright. It's just I've never seen her so nervous and she was going on about a hotel she might go to. I don't know, it made me uneasy seeing her that way. That's all."

"Did you see anyone else in the park? Anyone suspicious?" Castle asked amazed at how twisted things were turning out be.

"No, it was really cold that night. I guess most people stayed inside to keep warm, but I wasn't really looking for anyone or anything suspicious."

"What happened in the park?" Kate asked, hoping he would give her useful information.

"She just spoke to her ex, gave him a kiss and argued for a few minutes. They both calmed down and when I saw them walk away from each other, I relaxed and walked away, too."

"After you saw him leave, you were there with her, alone?"

"Yes, I mean no. I left when they left each other. We left the same time."

"Did you speak to her at all?"

"No, I left after I saw she was alone."

"Are you sure you walked away from her after? You were the last person to see her alive. You saw them leave, but no one saw you leave." Kate said as she gathered her papers into the folder she had. She let that last line hang in the air and she left, catching a few angry words the bewildered lawyer yelled to his client.


	16. Chapter 16

Moments after coming out of the interrogation room with Mr. Turner, Gates called Beckett into her office. It was 4:00 and Beckett knew at that moment that this long day was going to get even longer.

"Beckett!" Captain Gates yelled.

As soon as she closed the door behind her, Captain Gates continued in a serious voice, "What is taking so long to close this case? Why haven't you gotten a confession yet? We have tons of cases piling up, I'm getting pressured because I'm going to get reviewed soon, and the mayor is breathing down my neck."

"We're trying. It's just a little harder to prove when people refuse to talk and when we can't find the items that were used during the murder." Beckett said, frustrated by the situation.

"Just keep me updated as soon as you have something." Gates said in a warmer voice.

Kate sat at her desk with her feet on her desk and her hands over her closed eyes thinking about their suspects. The interrogations and their stories ran through her mind. Mr. Turner said when he left the park, Ms. Azoulay was still alive. Mr. Rodgers confirmed that and said he saw Mr. Turner leave. Tracey claimed to see all of them there and said she left the scene as well. Kate, at first, didn't believe that Tracey left the park right away, but Mr. Rodgers said he never saw Tracey there. Luckily for Tracey, a surveillance video from a store near the park showed her fighting with Turner at 9:00. That was during the fifteen minutes Mr. Rodgers was MIA and eight minutes before he returned to the bar. Something was wrong with their stories but she couldn't put a finger on it. They both told her that Ms. Azoulay was anxious about something but they weren't sure what. Did she know someone was going to kill her?

"You never answered my text about dinner," Castle stated, interrupting Kate's train of thoughts.

Kate turned to look at Castle momentarily forgetting about him hiding something from her. She wasn't sure if she would be able to make it to dinner or be good company at the end of the day. "Castle, I'd love to join you but Gates is giving me a lot of pressure to close this case and I don't know how late I'll finish up here," she said, as a yawn escaped her lips.

"We could grab take out and eat in. You shouldn't work yourself so hard. You need to get a good night's sleep."

Kate was about to answer him when her phone started buzzing on her desk. She answered the phone knowing who was on the line. "Tell me you found something," Kate said eagerly, throwing Castle an apologetic look.

"We searched the whole room but he seems to be clean. Inside his suitcase we found a key. We think that it might be to a locker in the airport," Esposito said.

Kate could feel Castle's breath tickle the side of her neck when he leaned into the side of her back and pressed his ears to the phone, hoping to listen in to the conversation. She pushed him away by digging her palm into his muscular chest and threw him a stern stare that usually made people shrink down in fear. She watched him sulk and pout as he sat back down in his chair. From the corner of her eyes, she analyzed him. She found herself lost in thought as her eyes wandered from his cute expression and then to the place her hand just touched his muscular chest. She heard a sharp noise coming from the phone line and quickly snapped her attention back to the conversation.

"It may not lead to anything—, " Esposito continued.

"K, but let me know if you find something there," Kate cut in, ending the conversation.

She hung up and focused her attention back to Castle. She saw him playing with his phone. "Playing angry birds?" she asked with a wry smile, unable to see the screen of his phone.

"No, just looking up the FTowns hotel."

"You're looking up hotel rooms?" she asked him in disbelief. Her cheeks slightly flushed pink as the thoughts and images of a naked Castle flooded into her mind.

"No, no, not like that. It's just, you know how Mr. Rodgers said that she was anxious and she had plans to go to a hotel? What if she was was meeting someone in the FTowns hotel. You know the hotel from the disk we found on her. We should get a look at who was staying there. The hotel is near JFK so she was probably meeting someone from her plane ride. Maybe Rodgers had a room there."

"We could look there," Kate said dryly, not really believing that it would help the case but still willing to try anything.

She called the hotel and after a lot of persuasion she managed to get them to agree to fax over their guest list. It took a good twenty minutes before the precinct received the list. Luckily it was a small hotel so there were only ten pages. She took the pile of papers and dumped it in front of Castle. "Here are the papers you asked for," she said, walking to the break room to get another cup of coffee.

Castle followed Kate into the break room and said, "It's late. Can I take these home and look it over there?" He raised his hands up to stop her from responding and quickly added, "I promise, I'll bring them back tomorrow."

She rolled her eyes and smiled at him. Seeing that they were alone in the break room, she reached for his cheek and left a light kiss there. "Have a good night Riiick. See you tomorrow?" Kate asked.

"You don't have to wait until tomorrow," Castle said with a wink and a sly smile appeared on his face. "If you miss me too much you can always come over to my place when you're done here." Castle said, hoping she would take him up on the offer.

"Shut up!" Kate said, laughing and shaking her head from side to side, "I think I'll manage until tomorrow." She bit her bottom lip and watched him walk towards the elevator.

* * *

><p>The precinct slowly emptied for the night and Kate sat alone lost in thought. Two hours earlier Ryan and Esposito showed up from Mr. Rodgers airport locker empty handed. With no evidence to go on, they both left hoping that tomorrow will bring new evidence. Here she sat, two hours later, still staring at the murder board trying to make sense of the case. The clock hit nine and she let out a loud yawn. Knowing that another mug of coffee would keep her up all night, she decided fresh air would be the better choice.<p>

Once she made it to the door, Kate decided a ride around town would help her clear her mind. Kate exited out into the dark, cold night. A light rain started to come down which caused a shiver to run through her body before she made a sprint to the car. As soon as she got into her seat and closed the door, the rain picked up and the drops came down faster. Kate let her head slide back into the head rest, took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She listened to the soothing pitter-patter sounds the rain made on the hood of the car. After a minute she took her keys out and started up the engine. She mindlessly drove down side streets and took random turns until she ended up where she really wanted to be outside of Rick's place. A little surprised by the destination, she struggled with herself trying to decide whether she should go up and interrupt him, or drive away and head home.


	17. Chapter 17

**If you know what is going on in the case just skip the overview.**

**Quick Case Overview:**

Mrs. Azoulay, a flight attendant, was found murdered in the park by Mr. Bush, a homeless man. They canvassed the area and found the murder weapon. It was a tree branch with a piece of Mrs. Azoulay's hair on it. Her phone and wallet are still missing but they found on her a disk with flight schedules and hotel reservations. They questioned Mr. Flyer the man who gave out the flight schedules but he claimed not to know Mrs. Azoulay personally. They question her co-workers: Mr. Rodgers, Mrs. Pryer, and Mr. Webb. Then they asked her ex- husband, Mr. Turner and his girlfriend, Tracey

Mr. Rodgers was Ms. Azoulay's friend. He claimed to be at the bar with Mrs. Pryer the whole night. Mrs. Azoulay invited Mrs. Pryer to share a hotel room with her when she found out Mrs. Pryer didn't have a place stay. Mrs. Pryer confirmed that Mr. Rodgers was with her in the bar. Mr. Webb, the pilot had nothing to add because he didn't really know know her.

Mr. Turner had met up with Ms. Azoulay at around eight the night she was killed. They were in the same park and after an accidental kiss they both shared. They said their goodbyes and walked away. A few minutes later Mr. Turner was seen on a store's surveillance camera arguing with his girlfriend.

Tracey was suspicious with the way he was that week so she followed him to the park. She identified Mr. Rodgers near the park and showed them that there might be holes in his story. Kate pushed Mr. Rodgers until he finally confessed that Mrs. Pryer was too drunk to notice him leave the bar and admitted that he was indeed in the park watching Ms. Azoulay because she looked nervous about meeting her ex in the park. He claims that he didn't kill Ms. Azoulay and he didn't say he was in the park because he knew it would look bad. Mr. Rodgers was the last person that they know of to see Ms. Azoulay alive. Without solid evidence and a full confession the charges against him would never stick in court. Castle pushed Kate to look into the hotel on the disk. Castle was hoping that maybe someone like Mr. Rodgers had a reservation for a room there.

* * *

><p>"Is it okay if I go to this party I've been invited to tonight?" Alexis said, as soon as Castle entered the loft. Before he could respond Alexis quickly added, " Don't worry, Dad, I'll be home by eleven thirty."<p>

"Of course you can go. Just promise me you'll have fun, but don't have too much fun. Castle said, smiling down at his daughter. "Oh, and don't do anything I wouldn't do." He said, pulling her into a strong bear hug, holding her for an extra minute. He could not believe how fast his little girl was growing up. He watched her bound up the steps, adding a little hop into each step, before he headed towards his own office.

Castle sat at his desk and placed the papers Beckett had handed him earlier on the side of his desk. He was not in the mood to look over the papers at the moment so he turned his attention to his white board instead. The white board held all the information regarding Kate's shooter and Johanna Beckett's murderer. A rough sketch of a man had recently been added to the board.

It was the mystery caller that called Castle twice and met with him a few weeks ago. Not knowing anything about the man bugged Castle to no ends. The words, "you don't reach me, I reach you" stuck in the walls of Castle's brain. There was no way for Castle to contact the mystery man and ask the millions of questions that swarmed through his mind. The only number Castle had, had been disconnected. Countless hours were wasted trying to trace the number, but the phone ended up being a burner cell and couldn't be traced or linked.

It was a dark night in the garage and the meeting ended too fast. The mystery man failed to realize the little light that shined on half of his face. Castle didn't get an ID from the man, but with the little light shining down, he was able to capture a side profile. Castle could remember every detail of the mystery man's face. He had the face memorized from the double chin to the worried wrinkles near his eyes. The hardest part was figuring out who the mystery man was and how important he was to the government and Beckett's shooter.

Earlier in the day Castle was in middle of asking Ryan if he found anything about the mystery man, but they were both interrupted by Kate when she walked into the room. Castle felt his heart beat race against his chest as he grabbed for the edge of the desk for support. He didn't like hiding things from Kate, not after she was so honest with him, but he was determined to protect her and maybe stop her from running towards her death. Yes, he was going to wait. Until he had hard information about the mystery man, he was going to wait. He closed his tired eyes and fell into a light sleep.

* * *

><p>Kate smiled and waved hello to the doorman as she walked past him and entered the lobby. He recognized her immediately and threw her a pearly white smile in return. Before she could change her mind and turn around, she pushed the elevator button and watched the doors instantly opened. Kate hoped she wouldn't be intruding on Castle's family time as she made this impromptu visit. She knew she should have called him first and hoped that the offer to come over still stood opened to her. The minute ride up felt like hours and she anxiously waited for the doors to open. She walked slowly to the door of his loft and gave the wood three hard knocks.<p>

"Finally, I thought you were gonna ditch—" Alexis said, swinging the door opened. She stopped in her tracks when she saw who it was. "Beckett! Hi, come in!"

"Am I interrupting anything?" Kate asked, looking at the tight short black skirt and light blue shirt with sequins lining the top Alexis wore.

" I'm heading to a party tonight. I'll go get my dad." Alexis said, flashing Kate a smile filled with warmth.

She disappeared into Castle's office and Kate unraveled her scarf from around her neck and unbuttoned her brown coat. She hung them in the closet and settled on his soft couch as she waited for them. There was a knock at the door and Kate looked towards his office but didn't hear or see anything. She called for Alexis and told them she was gonna answer the door. Kate made her way to the door, answered it, and awkwardly invited Alexis's friend inside.

Alexis reappeared into the room and said, " Dad will be out in a minute." Alexis noticed her friend, Paige, standing next to Kate and asked, "Ready to leave?" Paige nodded and they both headed out.

Seconds later Castle walked out. Her eyes swept up the image before her. He had wrinkles in his pants, a crumpled button down shirt, messy hair, and the best of all sparkling, bright blue eyes.

"Were you sleeping? I'm so sorry if you were. I didn't realize." Kate said, stepping closer to him and moving some of his misplaced bangs to the side.

His eyes twinkled as he said,"I would rather be woken up from any sleep then miss a moment with you." He pulled her into a hug and kissed the side of her neck. Kate rested her head on his shoulder and stood there content in his warm embrace.

"Did you eat yet?" Castle asked, sniffing her brunette hair.

"No, not yet. Did you?" She asked, pulling away from his shoulder searching his eyes. His eyes lowered to her lips and she couldn't help looking hungrily at his either. His lips inched closer and she met them wrapping her hands around his neck. They stayed at each other's lips until breathing became an issue. Kate ran her fingers through his thick hair once more before pulling away.

"I'm starving. I fell asleep right when I got home. We could either make something or order in. Whatever you want," Castle said.

"Let's check the fridge," Kate said, making her way to the kitchen. There was a small pan of meatball lasagna left over in the fridge. It looked so scrumptious so she took it out, pressed the pre-heat button, and waited for it to beep so she could put it in the oven.

"Want to make dessert while we wait?" She asked biting her bottom lip, hoping that she didn't overstep her bounds.

It amazed Castle how comfortable Kate moved around his place, his kitchen. "You could always be my dessert instead. I know one or two things we could do with whip cream and strawberries," he said, reaching for her waist and pulling her in for another intense kiss. His hands suggestively moved over her body and she pushed further into him.

"If you indulge in whip cream, you'll get diabetes," Kate said, laughing into his mouth. Her hands rested on his chest and circled around the buttons on his shirt.

The oven beeped, causing Kate to pull away. She reluctantly crossed the room and put up the lasagna. Castle made his way to the fridge in search for the can of whip cream. To his dismay, there was none left.

"It's gone. All the cans," Castle said, as he frantically searched the doors again. Kate saw the frown on his face and didn't have to ask what was wrong. It was written all over his face. The expression he wore reminded her of a look a little boy would wear if he lost his favorite toy.

"I can make you delicious chocolate chip cookies," she said, trying to cheer him up, "I know a really good recipe. Why don't you relax and I'll bake something you'll never forget."

Castle made his way to the couch still upset about the missing can of whip cream but happy Kate was going to fix that situation. Kate pulled some ingredients off the shelf, trying to remember everything she needed. She sang quietly to herself as she worked diligently, pouring, mixing, and shaping the cookies into round circles. She had filled one pan but paused when the timer rang. Kate took out the steaming, hot pan of lasagna and placed it on the table. She grabbed two plates and two cups down from the cabinet and called Castle to join her. The smell of the cookies baking filtered through the air as they ate in a comfortable silence.

"The smell of those cookies are going to kill me," Castle said, as they both cleared their plates.

Kate took out the pan of cookies and eagerly watched Castle take a bite. As soon as he bit into it, he quickly spat it out. "You call that a good cookie?" He asked, picking up a different cookie for her to try.

"Why? What's wrong with them?" She asked, taking the cookie from him and smelling it before placing it in her mouth. She didn't remember putting so much sugar in it and she quickly swallowed the tiny bite determined to keep her pride. "I don't see what the big deal is," she said, trying to keep her best poker face. But his expression sent her howling with laughter.

"I think I would rather eat my mom's cooking than this," he said with a teasing grin.

"It's not that bad!" Kate exclaimed in a whiny, high pitch voice she didn't even know existed.

"If it tastes so good why don't you finish the cookie you started?" he asked, raising his eyebrows up at her.

"I would, but I'm so full from the lasagna," Kate said, rubbing her stomach to emphasize her words.

"I bet that cookie has more sugar then a handful of whip cream. And you say my whip cream will give me diabetes," he said, shaking his head.

"You were right about one thing though," he said, with an evil grin and Kate shot him a questioningly look, "This is something I will never forget."

"Shut up!" Kate exclaimed, throwing a towel at his face and walking away pretending to be offended.

Castle attempted to sneak up behind her and tackle her. Kate sensed the attack and turned around in time to gently send him to the floor. She leaned over him and whispered in his ear, "It's never smart to attack an officer." Kate didn't expect Castle's next plan of attack. His fingers around her waist slowly started to tickle her. She withered in his grasp laughing. "Okay, Okay! I give up. You win," she said, gasping for air.

He rolled on top of her, pinning her to the floor. "What's my prize?" he asked huskily.

"You"ll always have me," she said, answering his question. Her heart beat sped up as he kissed her. As soon as he pulled away she couldn't stop herself from blurting out the three words she avoided, "I love you." She searched his sparkling blue eyes and seconds later his lips were back on her lips. Several kisses later Kate looked at her watch and said,"I have to go. Its getting late and tomorrow I have to wake up early. That reminds me, did you have a chance to look at the papers I gave you?"

Castle shook his head no. "I thought you said you were going to look at it tonight," She said, upset that he wasn't being responsible.

"The night isn't over yet. Don't worry I still have tons of time left."

Kate shook her head in disapproval and said with anger, "This isn't on of your books where you could procrastinate. This is serious. I can't believe your doing this to my case."

Castle couldn't make sense of the sudden mood change but knew from experience that he would have to approach this with caution."Will it make you feel better if I got the papers from my office and looked them over right now?" Castle asked. Castle breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her mood lighten from the suggestion. They both made way for his office. He opened the door and spotted the shining smart board. Shit! He forgot to turn off the damn thing. He lunged for the off button but there was no point. From the look on Kate's face, he knew she saw it all.


	18. The End

**If you know what is going on in the case just skip the overview.**

**Quick Case Overview:**

Mrs. Azoulay, a flight attendant, was found murdered in the park by Mr. Bush, a homeless man. They canvassed the area and found the murder weapon. It was a tree branch with a piece of Mrs. Azoulay's hair on it. Her phone and wallet are still missing but they found on her a disk with flight schedules and hotel reservations. They questioned Mr. Flyer the man who gave out the flight schedules but he claimed not to know Mrs. Azoulay personally. They question her co-workers: Mr. Rodgers, Mrs. Pryer, and Mr. Webb. Then they asked her ex- husband, Mr. Turner and his girlfriend, Tracey

Mr. Rodgers was Ms. Azoulay's friend. He claimed to be at the bar with Mrs. Pryer the whole night. Mrs. Azoulay invited Mrs. Pryer to share a hotel room with her when she found out Mrs. Pryer didn't have a place stay. Mrs. Pryer confirmed that Mr. Rodgers was with her in the bar. Mr. Webb, the pilot had nothing to add because he didn't really know know her.

Mr. Turner had met up with Ms. Azoulay at around eight the night she was killed. They were in the same park and after an accidental kiss they both shared. They said their goodbyes and walked away. A few minutes later Mr. Turner was seen on a store's surveillance camera arguing with his girlfriend.

Tracey was suspicious with the way he was that week so she followed him to the park. She identified Mr. Rodgers near the park and showed them that there might be holes in his story. Kate pushed Mr. Rodgers until he finally confessed that Mrs. Pryer was too drunk to notice him leave the bar and admitted that he was indeed in the park watching Ms. Azoulay because she looked nervous about meeting her ex in the park. He claims that he didn't kill Ms. Azoulay and he didn't say he was in the park because he knew it would look bad. Mr. Rodgers was the last person that they know of to see Ms. Azoulay alive. Without solid evidence and a full confession the charges against him would never stick in court. Castle pushed Kate to look into the hotel on the disk. Castle was hoping that maybe someone like Mr. Rodgers had a reservation for a room there.

* * *

><p><em>Several kisses later Kate looked at her watch and said,"I have to go. Its getting late and tomorrow I have to wake up early. That reminds me, did you have a chance to look at the papers I gave you?"<em>

_Castle shook his head no. "I thought you said you were going to look at it tonight," She said, upset that he wasn't being responsible._

_"The night isn't over yet. Don't worry I still have tons of time left."_

_Kate shook her head in disapproval and said with anger, "This isn't on of your books where you could procrastinate. This is serious. I can't believe your doing this to my case."_

_Castle couldn't make sense of the sudden mood change but knew from experience that he would have to approach this with caution."Will it make you feel better if I got the papers from my office and looked them over right now?" Castle asked. Castle breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her mood lighten from the suggestion. They both made way for his office. He opened the door and spotted the shining smart board. Shit! He forgot to turn off the damn thing. He lunged for the off button but there was no point. From the look on Kate's face, he knew she saw it all._

* * *

><p>"Castle, what the hell is that"<p>

"It's a smart board," Castle joked, using his humor to try and lighten the mood. But Kate rolled her eyes in response and grew even more impatient with him.

"Seriously! Castle, what was my mother's case doing up there?" Kate said a little confused. She didn't understand why he would hide something like this from her. She knew what she saw and his hesitation wasn't making it any better. "You told me not to look into the case because there wasn't any new evidence. Who was that guy at the top of the screen?" she asked coldly, searching his eyes for information.

She had caught him off guard. He never had the chance to make the perfect speech that would soothe her. He never thought she would get a glimpse of this before his theories and suspicions panned out. Castle stood there for his first time at a loss for words, trying to come up with a perfect explanation. Anything that would get him out of this mess.

"Look, it was your mom's case up there and there isn't any new evidence for your mom's case." Castle said slowly. Her eyes were still shooting daggers at him and he was forced to continue, "Honestly, I don't know who that man is."

"You don't know who that man is?" Kate scoffed," Then why the hell is he up there? For decoration? You know, I thought we were partners. I thought you would tell me when you found something, anything, even if it is small."

"Kate, please–" he wanted to beg her to stop asking questions.

"Goddammit, Castle! Who is the new man up there? Is he another clue in my mother's case?" she asked, growing impatient by his lack of words. This time no words were needed because his body language gave it all away. She could see him squirm and a look of betrayal flashed across Kate's face. She knew she hit it dead on. The squirming had confirmed it. Why wasn't he giving her straight answers and why was he hiding information from her?

"Kate, I'll answer all your questions, but I need you trust me when—"

"TRUST YOU? I think you're the one with the trust issues. If you trusted me you would have told me about the man on the board," she screamed, insulted and angry with the way he was acting. She quickly stormed out of the room and, before he could follow, grabbed her coat and scarf. She rushed out of the door, pausing and looking up for a second when she accidentally brushed her shoulder against a startled Alexis. She needed to get out of there fast. Needed some space and a quiet place to think, so instead of waiting for the elevator she rushed down the flights of stairs.

As soon as she hit the sidewalk, she finally allowed the threatening tears to stream down her face. The pouring rain had matched her crappy mood. She headed for her car with her keys in hand as the rain washed her tears from her face. She banged the steering wheel in frustration. How could she have been so stupid to think that Castle was the perfect man. She was so stupid for coming out here tonight. She should have drove straight home. Kate listened to the sounds of the rain falling on the hood of her car. They were as therapeutic as it had been earlier that night. Then a gut-wrenching feeling curled up in the bottom of her stomach. She had an amazing time tonight and wouldn't give a million dollars to take it back. Although Castle held many flaws she still could honestly say she still cared for him deeply. She made her way home, got into her apartment, and cried herself to sleep wondering what Castle's excuse was for keeping her out of the loop.

* * *

><p>Castle lay restless in bed rolling from side to side. How could the night turn from perfect to disaster? He couldn't believe that she had said the three words, "I love you" just moments before only to have it crushed minutes later when she stormed out refusing to listen to him. He knew that she wouldn't be happy with him for keeping this information from her, but he always thought that he would be ready with good answers to her questions. He always thought that in the long run she would understand his reasonings, but he never got to explain himself. Women! he thought to himself frustrated, but Kate wasn't just any woman. Unlike his previous relationships, he was determined to make things work. This time he wasn't going to run away from the problems, but he was scared she was going to run from him. Castle dialed her number for the second time at one last attempt to reach her, but was left disappointed when his call went straight to voice mail.<p>

Castle dozed off for a few minutes but awoke in a panic with sweats from his horrifying dream. It was the tenth time he has had that nightmare since Kate got shot. He watched the shocked look appear on Kate's face as the bullet hit her in the chest. They both fell to the ground in slow motion as he tackled her, trying to protect her. He placed his hands on her chest, trying to stop the dark red blood from oozing out of her chest and all over the freshly cut green grass. The sounds of the ambulance rushing over and the EMT's feet pounding on the grass. They pushed him away as they placed her on the gurney, taking her away from him. He didn't know if he would see her again alive. He would try running after them but his feet would refuse to move. They had taken her away. The woman he loved was gone. He ended up in the hospital and every time the doctors would come out saying, "she is dead."

The feeling of losing Kate never left Castle's mind. During the day he was able to mask those horrible feelings by touching her and seeing her breathe, but at night he had nowhere to hide those feelings and no one to hold. He laid there, watching the clock move closer and closer to six-thirty as his speeding heartbeat slowed down.

He got up and rummaged through his closet looking for a shirt he was in the mood to wear. His hand landed on a crisp red, wine colored button down shirt and a black suit jacket. Once he was dressed and had breakfast he kissed his worried daughter goodbye. When Alexis saw Kate run out last night she asked him what he had done this time to screw things up. "We just had a little argument," he told Alexis, "don't worry, everything will be okay." But she looked unconvinced. Even now, he could see the worried look in her eyes reflect in his eyes.

He headed out to the nearest Starbucks. If there was anything that could change Kate's mood, it was coffee. He headed for the precinct holding two cups of coffee and a brown paper bag filled with different types of bagel sandwiches because he was still unsure which type she preferred.

"What are you doing here?" Kate asked lowly but sharply when she saw him him get off the elevator and head towards her desk. She was surprised to see him because she really expected him to come up with a lame excuse of why he couldn't show so he wouldn't have to face her after their argument. She looked around to make sure that everyone was concentrating on their own things.

"I came to bring you your daily cup of coffee," he said, placing the large cup of skim latte with two pumps of sugar free vanilla on her desk. "I also promised you that I would look through these," he said, handing her a pile of pages that was marked in several places with a bright pink highlighter "and look what I found." The excitement shone all over his face.

Kate took the papers warily and glanced down at the papers before her, hiding the disbelief she felt. The fact that he was true to this small promise even after they fought had brought her some relief. Looking down, she saw that two areas were highlighted: one was the name for a booked room and the other had a billing name.

" I'll call for a warrant on the room, go down to the hotel, and just like he left a big trail here, hopefully he is dumb enough to leave some evidence as well." she said to herself but knew Castle heard her.

She knew he would pick up on the word "I" and not "we". She looked up at Castle with an ice cold look. He stood there with his mouth open, about to say something and then he shut it quickly. He may have found the clue that would end the case, but she was still upset with him. She still needed time away from him and she was about to tell him to go home.

"I brought you something else," he said opening up a brown bag, "I wasn't sure what type you would like so I bought. "he pulled out a few bagels wrapped in white paper and continued, "tuna with lettuce, cream cheese, eggs, and cheese with tomatoes."

Esposito walked up to them and looked from Kate to Castle. Kate had her killer eyes on, but seeing the food Castle brought, Esposito cut in and asked, grabbing a bagel from Castle, "You got us all breakfast?"

"Actually that's for..." Castle started.

"Me." Kate said, taking the cream cheese bagel from Esposito. Castle was always thoughtful and she almost felt bad for what she said next, "Castle came to bring us breakfast and to say sorry. He has to leave for the rest of the day. "She made sure to avoid Castle's face. She would cave and let him join them if she saw the look on his face. Focusing her eyes on the pages before her, she said to Esposito, "You could have one of the other bagels and once you have picked a bagel we're gonna take a ride to the FTowns Hotel. We may have something to go on now." Esposito mumbled something incoherent under his breath as he took the bag from Castle and headed over to his partner.

"Come on, Kate, You gotta let me come with you! I was the one who gave you the clue," Castle whined with big puppy dog eyes.

"You're not gonna go away are you?" she asked, sighing loudly in resignation. "You could come as long as you promise not to talk."

"Okay," Castle said as a wide smile spread across his face. Kate lifted her eye-brow and smirked at him. "Starting now." He pinched his thumb and pointer fingers together and swept them across his lips as if he was pretending to zip them.

They all left the precinct and headed for the hotel. Castle was tempted to speak during the long ride, but he didn't want to add any more reasons for her to be angry with him. Was singing talking? he thought to himself but then he thought better of it. Castle settled for humming_ Shut Up and Drive_ by Rhianna and enjoyed receiving the annoyed eye-roll from Kate.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry, Detective, but I can't give you the key to that room unless I see a warrant," The woman at the desk said.<p>

Beckett looked at her phone, frustrated that the call with the warrant hadn't come through yet. She was promised that she would have it in a few minutes, but a few was now close to fifteen. Jokingly Beckett said to the receptionist, "The warrant is being processed right now. Can't you just bend the rule this time and give me the key?"

"I would love to do that for you, but my boss is hardcore about the rules. You being part of the police, I thought you would understand and respect the rules."

Defeated, Kate dialed a number on her phone once again and impatiently demanded for an explanation on why it was taking so long to receive the damn warrant. Seconds later, they all piled into the elevator with the key to the hotel room.

Mrs. Azoulay's second hotel room was just as spotless as her first one. Beckett wandered into the bathroom at one last attempt to find something. Just when she was about to give up, she looked under the tank of the toilet lid. She had hit the jackpot. She picked up the items with her blue colored gloved hands and placed them in plastic bags that Castle held wide open. A man's white shirt, and a small black jacket that held a wallet and a cell phone were all stuffed together in a red puddle of water. Now with the new evidence, there was only one other person who had access to this room, the man who paid for it.

Back at the precinct they reviewed the surveillance tape that showed Mr. Flyer running to the room at nine with a small black jacket in hand, wearing a white shirt with a big blood stain on it. His coat was tugged close to his body, but the stain remained visible. The items found in the tank behind the toilet matched the ones on the screen. They only had to wait a few more minutes before Mr. Flyer showed up.

"I don't understand why I'm here. I already gave you all the information I know about Ms. Azoulay," Mr. Flyer said, taking a seat in the chair opposite of Beckett.

"We are just going over the events of the night, trying to piece everything together. Just to get this straight, how well did you know Ms. Azoulay?"

"I told you I didn't know her".

"If you didn't know her, why were you paying for her hotel room at FTowns Hotel?" Kate said, showing Mr. Flyer the highlighted billing paper with his name on it and the room reservation with her name on it.

"Those have to be wrong. There must be a mistake somewhere, "Mr. Flyer said nervously, shaking his left foot.

"We both know that these aren't wrong. We searched the hotel room and found the phone Ms. Azoulay used the night she was murdered. along with her wallet and your bloody clothes," Kate said, watching his face grow pale.

"I want a lawyer now," Mr. Flyer said with a resigned look on his face.

"If you're straight with me and tell me what happened that night, I will tell the DA that you complied and make sure they cut a deal with you to lessen your sentence," Kate said, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice. She needed him to talk more and she wasn't getting anywhere at the moment.

"You can't promise me shit like that!" Mr. Flyer exclaimed, screwing his eyes with scorn.

"The DA will listen to me as long as you confess and tell me everything," Kate said in a firm and measured voice, holding his eye contact. Kate wasn't sure if he would talk. He kept glancing away from her piercing, hazel green eyes but then tried to stare her down. Kate has been in many staring contest and this one wasn't any different. When he finally couldn't stare back, he glanced down and coughed into his arm. He was ready to talk now and minutes later she had his full confession.

Mr. Flyer always observed the way Ms. Azoulay interacted with other men, especially Mr. Rodgers. He used to think Mr. Rodgers was a threat, but a year went by and that relationship never blossomed. Mr. Rodgers was never part of the competition, but when Mr. Turner returned to the picture, the pot was stirred. Mr. Flyer showed up at the park and hid behind a tree just in time to see Ms. Azoulay share a kiss with Mr. Turner. He waited until Mr. Turner was gone from sight and then he confronted her about the kiss and she denied it. The bitch lied straight to his face and in anger, he accidentally slammed her hard into the tree branch. Her body instantly went limp on impact so he took off her jacket to cover her bloody head, picked her up wearing his fuzzy gloves and carried her over to the rocks.

Full of smiles, Kate walked to her desk. They had done it. Solved another complicated case in just a week and now it was time to dive into the paperwork.

"Here," Castle said, placing a mug of coffee on her desk, "I know you're busy with paperwork now, but now that the case is finished you think we could get off early and talk about last night?" he searched her eyes as they briefly met his. Waiting for her reply, his mind went into overdrive, wondering about the worse possible answers she could answer. Her body language showed she held conflicting feelings but her eyes were hard like a wall. She was distancing herself from him once again always running away just like she had done this summer in the hospital and his heart sank low in his chest. He couldn't let her run from him again and he was going to put up one hell of a fight if she tried. "Kate, you have to hear me out."

"Not here," was all she said before she returned to her papers.

Kate could feel the intensity of Castle's eyes on her as she filled out her paperwork. It was nerve wreaking to have him stare at her the whole time.

"Don't you have something else to do?" she asked him slightly annoyed.

"And miss out on all this action?" Castle said, receiving an eye-roll from Kate. Then he added in a more serious tone, "there isn't any other place I'd rather be." He loved watching her work. The expressions that ran across her face as she wrote was adorable. He could write a whole story based on them and the best expression was the bitter sweet smile she wore when she neared the end of the report. He loved watching her do paperwork. Hell he would sit here all day and watch her, if she would let him.

"Are you sure about that?" Kate said, as a soft smile spread across her face and she raised an eyebrow at him. With the case closed she felt the weight of it lift off her shoulders. She could relax and breathe and maybe that is why she just flirted with him. Tensions between them were released and she preferred the way he was looking at her now more than the way he was staring at her earlier.

"Only if you're there with me," Castle returned, raising his own eye-brows at her with a glint of hope in his eyes. He would do just about anything or go anywhere as long as she was with him the whole time. Kate shook her head, knowing this time she was to blame.

"Once you're done with the paperwork you could leave for the rest of the night. You did a good job on this case," Captain Gates said, causing them to break eye contact and Captain Gates exited just as fast as she appeared.

"I'm done," Kate said a few minutes later. "Let's get out of here, get something to eat, and then we'll talk." She had to admit, she loved seeing his eyes light up at the suggestion of getting dinner together. She was still mad at him for keeping her out of loop, for not telling her who the man was on the board, but she was curious to know how much he knew. She would do almost anything to progress on her Mom's case. She will bring justice to her mom. She was supposed to be getting over her mother's murder in therapy, but at the moment all those hours were thrown away. There was hope again.

They both packed up and went to get some take out. Martha was going to be at the loft with a few of her friends so they took a cab to Kate's apartment. They needed a quiet place to talk in private. They sat in silence as they ate, picking up the vegetables they liked from the other's plates and bumping hands as they reached for the fries that sat in the middle.

"Kate, please hear me out and give me a chance to speak before you leave me," Castle said when he finished his food. Kate was in middle of taking a bite and all she could do was shake her head in agreement as she chewed.

"The day I told you to stop looking into your mother's case was the same day I received a phone call from the mystery man on my smart board. Ryan tried putting my sketch through a face recognition program, but nothing popped up. It's like he doesn't exist."

"You told Ryan about the man and not me?" Kate asked with a hurtful look on her face.

Castle stopped, shocked with himself for slipping about Ryan. "You said that you were going to let me finish," Castle said and he waited for her to nod before he continued. "The man warned me that if you look into your mother's case then they will kill you and I can't lose you, but he never said that I couldn't look into it." Kate's mouth opened. He could tell that she was going to argue with him so he quickly added, "I promise that when I do have real evidence we will bring these men down together, but right now it's just a mystery man who is helping us, protecting us from whoever is out there."

"I think I have done a good job at protecting myself over the years. I don't need someone else out there protecting me while the man who put out the hit on my mother gets to live scot-free."

"Seriously?" Castle asked as his voice rose, "Did you seriously forget what happened to you this summer? You're not an iron wall! You need someone out there looking out for you and protecting you."

"I am a detective. I know how to use a gun and fend for myself. Sometimes I'm going to be put in danger and what are you going to do then?" She was so pissed at him. Who did he think he was?

"I can't stop you from looking into your mother's case, but if you do I don't know if I could stay around and watch you throw your life away. I love you too much and I can't bear the thought of losing you. Not again. Those hours I spent in the waiting room were hell for me. I didn't know if you were going to make it or die on me." He blinked back a tear as he reviewed the painful memory and he watched her expression soften. "I'm not going to lie those three months without you in my life were the worst days of my life. I knew that if I told you about the man right away then you would try to find him and then they would kill you. I might be selfish, but I need you alive. I don't think I would be able to live if something bad happens to you. I need you to stay away from the case for now. At least wait until new evidence presents itself and when it does, we will go after them together." He could tell she wasn't happy with what he was telling her. He knew she was expecting more from him and that is why her next move surprised him even more.

"Okay, I will stay away for now," Kate said, biting her bottom lip. She didn't agree with everything he said but deep down she knew he was right. She sat there trying to prevent the tears from rolling down her cheeks. She hastily wiped away the tears that escaped from her eyes but more fell in its place. He had given her a reason to move forward

Castle lifted his hand to her face and gently rubbed his thumb along her cheek-bone. "Thank you!" he whispered and a small smile tugged at the corner of Kate's lips. Kate leaned forward bringing her lips to his, placing three soft lingering kisses there. He pulled her closer to him, but this time he nibbled lightly at her top lip and his tongue licked the opening of her mouth. Her tongue eagerly greeted his as she moved her hands to his head and ran her fingers through his smooth hair. Their tongues brushed, neither trying to take control. Just enjoying the moment.

When the kiss ended, Kate held onto his hand and said "I love you." She wasn't ready for the night to end yet. Still holding his hand, she brought it up to her lips and kissed it.

"I love you too," Rick said, pulling her closer for another kiss. Rick didn't want to leave her now, but he knew not to push her. As always, he was going to respect her so after the kiss he got up to leave. "I should go and save Alexis from Martha and her friends."

"Rick, please don't go," Kate said. "I know it is a lot to ask but do you mind staying?" He stared at her blankly and she wasn't sure what was wrong. "Castle, are you alright?" she asked with concern seeping into her voice.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," he said, returning his attention to her.

"Can you stay and call Alexis so she doesn't get nervous when you don't go home?"

"Yeah, of course I'll stay. You don't have to ask me twice." He knew he had pushed his luck to the max and tonight he was blessed.

"I already asked you twice," Kate said, as a big smile spread across her face. She turned on the TV to find something good to watch as Castle called Alexis. Moments later they both settled down on the couch and she nestled against his body, laying her head against his shoulder and lazily drawing circles with her fingers against his skin. Kate sighed into his shirt. This was a long week and she already had an idea of what she was going to have to speak about in the next therapy session.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading. I may have rushed the ending there but I'm going out of the States for a while so I won't have time to write.<p>

I really just wanted to get out how I thought their secrets would be revealed and their reactions. Hope you enjoyed it.


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